This project, Community Connections: La Crosse Mental Health Resource Hub, led by the Mental Health Coalition of the Greater La Crosse Area is strengthening its capacity to serve as a trusted, centralized resource for mental health and wellness across La Crosse County. The Coalition is enhancing its website to create an accessible hub for mental health resources, training opportunities, prevention initiatives and collaborative efforts, including the community-wide Be Here: Unplug, Connect, Thrive campaign. The project also includes strategic communications support and professional development in Lifestyle Medicine, equipping cross-sector partners with a shared, evidence-based framework focused on connection, sleep, stress management, physical activity, nutrition and substance use. Together, these efforts will improve access to trusted information, strengthen community collaboration and expand equitable, prevention-focused mental wellness strategies.
The Challenge
For more than 20 years, the Mental Health Coalition of Greater La Crosse has served as a trusted convener, bringing together partners to improve mental health services, community education and systems coordination. As community demand for reliable, evidence-based mental health information has grown and the Coalition has taken on a larger leadership role through its partnership with Great Rivers United Way, facilitation of Community Impact Teams and the launch of the Be Here campaign, its influence and responsibilities have expanded. However, the Coalition’s communications and digital infrastructure have not kept pace with this growth. The scope and impact of its collaborative work are not always visible or easily understood by community members, and its current website does not fully support its role as a centralized hub for trusted resources, training opportunities and prevention initiatives. Strengthening the Coalition’s digital infrastructure and communications is essential to improving equitable access to information, connecting community members with support and sustaining coordinated, community-wide mental wellness efforts.
Project Goals
This project aims to strengthen the Coalition’s capacity to serve as a trusted community resource by improving communications, expanding digital infrastructure and supporting collaborative, prevention-focused mental wellness efforts. To accomplish this, the organization will:
Strengthen the Mental Health Coalition’s digital and communications infrastructure to improve coordination, visibility and equitable access to trusted mental health and wellness information.
Build shared knowledge, language and capacity among cross-sector partners to advance consistent, evidence-based mental wellness and prevention messaging across the community.
