What We Do:
We started by hosting a presentation in our own area, teaching some of our neighbors about agriculture stress, and coaching them to ask their neighbors the right questions when checking in on them.
We use the COMET model from the High Plains Research Network, to support farmers and ranchers to open up to their friends and neighbors when they are facing hard times. We offer giveaways through a mobile display that travels to the various locations our committee members work, which feature all of our logos, and our catch phrase, “Do you look after your neighbors as close as your crop or herd?”.
Our slogan has been made popular through a rural mailer, our traveling display, a large decal on the back of our Mobile Response Vehicle, the tailgate of our CEO’s pickup.
By using logos they are familiar with, we attempt to reduce the stigma of solely utilizing the logo of the community mental health center.
COMET™ (Changing Our Mental and Emotional Trajectory) teaches people how to intervene when they encounter someone who is in a “vulnerable space” and help shift the person’s mental health trajectory back to a place of wellness instead of proceeding towards a mental health crisis.
COMET™ helps fill a gap and is a strong complement to other strategies to reduce the suffering resulting from the high levels of stress in rural, agricultural communities.
Find out more by in videos of our members answering questions in a panel discussion about topics that spurred creation of The Coffee Break Project.
