SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Springfield’s Mental Health Subcommittee with the City Council gathered at Union Station Wednesday morning to promote mental health and wellness within the city.

Known as “Mental Health Check-in Days,” this initiative has, for months, been breaking the stigma surrounding mental health treatment. The goal is to link individuals who may be struggling, with resources available in the city.

The Mental Health Check-in Days have been held on the third Wednesday of the month since June. People can stop by and get a free mental health screening along with resource information.

Springfield City Councilor Zaida Govan told 22News, “What we’ve been trying to do is just to bring awareness to it, attention to it so that more people will be able to reach out and hopefully just get some mental health treatment that we all need. We all need mental health treatment.”

Some of the agencies involved in this effort included the African Diaspora Mental Health Association, the Gandara Center, Stop Access Drug Free Communities Coalition and Baystate Health.

Zaida described the Mental Health Check-in Days as a success, saying that community members learned about resources they were unaware existed. Though this was the last formal event of the series, the mental health subcommittee hopes to continue the conversation on mental health moving forward.