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THURSDAY. JUNE 10. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
Letters to the, Editor
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To the Editor:
An open letter to men about
mental health
So it’s June, Men’s Health
Month, and I thought it might
be a good time to check-in
and see how you’re doing.
I’ll admit I’ve been con
cerned; 2020 was a heck of a
year and we all faced chal
lenges we’d never faced be
fore. I saw many of you
struggle, sometimes with
fear, often with wanting to
protect your children from a
virus that seemed to be
everywhere, all while worry
ing about losing your job,
your income, your ability to
provide for their family.
Unfortunately for many of
you, that’s what happened.
Some of you lost more than
that - a parent or wife or
By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
Pickens County will re
ceive a financial windfall as
a result of the Covid-19 Pan
demic in the manner of more
than $3 million in funds allo
cated to the county resulting
from the passage of the
"American Rescue Plan" by
Congress.
Local allocation of those
funds was discussed at the
Thursday, June 3rd work ses
sion of the Pickens County
Board of Commissioners.
According to Board Chair
Kris Stancil, "There are strict
guidelines mandated by the
federal government" in how
to allocate those funds, but he
said, after researching the bill
in detail, "There is some flex
ibility." In looking at the line-
item allotments, he said that
funding can go to public
safety for "frontline" work
ers, including fire, EMS, and
law enforcement.
Also, there are allowances
for "lost tourism dollars and
infrastructure and capital im
provements." Stancil said
that he would like to allot the
money to "What's going to
make the biggest impact for
the community." He added
that the same amount of
money, $3,165,000, is
granted to the county next
year.
New meeting schedule
To allow more public
input during meetings, Stan
cil proposed a change in the
commission's meeting sched
ule. After looking at how
neighboring counties with
multi-member commissions
conduct their meetings, in
cluding Cherokee and Daw
son, he said instead of having
other loved one. Perhaps you
felt there were no words to
express your loss. Maybe
there still aren’t. And, really,
that’s what concerns me
most.
As a man you’ve probably
been taught that talking about
pain or heartache or sadness,
even after a devastating loss,
makes you weak - and no
man wants to be seen as
weak. I know the stereotypes
- it’s ok for women to be
emotional, to talk about our
feelings. We are nurturers.
We give hugs. We cry. As for
me, yes, guilty on all counts!
But you? Be strong and
silent. Men don’t cry. They
deal with their pain and move
on. If only ignoring it made it
go away! But it doesn’t - and
too often pain rears its head
one separate monthly work
session and another separate
monthly voting session on
different days, he would like
to have those as consecutive
meetings twice a month on
the 1st and 3rd Thursday.
Each of those days there
would be a work session fol
lowed by a regular voting
meeting, then followed by an
executive session, if needed.
Times are to be determined.
This will add an additional
work session and regular
meeting to commissioners’
current monthly schedule.
Commissioners would vote
on items discussed at a work
session held in weeks prior to
the vote.
Commissioners Denney
and Barnes concurred that
this would be a good idea,
and the commission will
move forward to adopt this
change. Hopefully, said Stan
cil, the change in meetings
will begin in September after
a couple of months during
the summer to adapt to the
change.
as anger, maybe at your wife
or kids; it shows up as an in
ability to stay focused at
work. It can show up as in
somnia, or the need for one
more drink. And one more
after that.
I found some interesting
stats about men and mental
health. The National Institute
of Mental Health says just
over 15% of adult American
men were diagnosed with a
mental illness in 2017. You
don’t like those words, “men
tal illness?” That’s fine - but
that’s what we’re talking
about when we talk about de
pression, anxiety or PTSD.
You say, ok, 15% is a
pretty small number, so the
odds are in my favor. Per
haps. But keep in mind, those
are men who sought help.
Department Updates
During the department up
dates session of the meeting,
Chairman Stancil stated that
the Parks and Recreation De
partment had reported that
this year's enrollment in the
Summer Camp Program has
broken all records (see re
lated story on Page 1A).
Chief Tax Appraiser Roy
Dobbs said that property tax
notices would be mailed
soon, and he warned that
many residents believe these
notices are a "tax bill," which
they are not. He advised res
idents not to submit payment
now, but to wait until after
the actual tax bills are sent in
the fall.
With the major renova
tions happening at the air
port, Stancil was concerned
about disruption of the traffic
flow near the airport. The
Pickens County Airport Au
thority assured the chairman
there would be some detours,
but they would be minimal,
and any detouring should not
be in effect for any more than
one week.
Millions more didn’t, and
likely for the reasons I talked
about above. That was also
before the pandemic.
The American Psycholog
ical Association reports 9%
of men have feelings of anx
iety or depression daily; the
National Alliance for Mental
Illness (NAMI) says one in
four spoke to a mental health
professional about it. One in
four?! C’mon guys. NAMI
also found 30.6% of men re
ported experiencing depres
sion sometime in their lives.
Men also account for 3.5
times the number of suicides
as women. Yeah, not good.
The thing is, if you’re
struggling, it’s not just affect
ing you. It affects your fam
ily, your coworkers, your
friends. Fortunately, most of
those people also care about
you and want to see you be
your best. You want to show
them how courageous you re
ally are? Tell them you’re
struggling and need help. See
whether they treat you with
contempt - or compassion.
I’ll wager on compassion. It’s
the same you would do if
your coworker, father, son,
brother or best friend told
you he was depressed, isn’t
it?
And then do what may be
even more courageous - find
a therapist. You can call
Highland Rivers Health, or
ask your doctor for a recom
mendation, or use your em
ployer’s employee assistance
program. Or just look on the
internet. And then go.
Anyway gentlemen, I
hope you find this helpful.
And if you’re struggling, I
hope you find the help you
need. I know talking about
your feelings might be awk
ward at first, but you’ll figure
it out. The best part is, you’ll
start feeling better and see
how therapy is helping you -
and others. Because just as
struggling with mental health
affects those around you, get
ting better will too. And no
one wants you get well more
than the people who love
you.
Melanie Dallas
CEO of Highland Rivers
Health
To the Editor:
Recently a contributor
wrote about the stimulus
money sent to US states. The
author wrote “local govern
ments like the county and
city are going to have funds
that must be spent on things
that are not necessary or even
really needed...,” and “The
State of Georgia is getting
billions to spend. But only
for things that the Progres
sives want. Choices will be
limited.”
This person has no idea
what he is talking about. Fail
ure to research the topic, I
presume. The only two spend
restrictions I am aware of are
as follows: the money can’t
be used to offset tax cuts
made since March 03, 2021,
or to make deposits to pen
sion hinds.
The rescue funding is
needed to plug budget holes
in schools, housing, parks,
public health, local services,
social programs, and basic
infrastructure. Eligible uses
include: public health expen
ditures such as coronavirus
mitigation efforts and med
ical expenses; addressing
negative economic impacts
including a reduction of pub
lic sector workers or small
businesses hurt by the pan
demic; replacing lost tax rev
enue; and offering additional
pay for essential workers.
Also, cities and counties can
use this money for every
thing from road repairs,
water and sewer infrastruc
ture improvements, and
broadband infrastructure de
velopment.
Hardly “limited choices.”
State and local governments
will have to report how they
spend the money.
Robert Barr
ULctn&td M«ss«0C Therapists
770-894-9744
wttdtd
Competitive pay, flexible hours. The best clients.
H-«s<3 Massage TViera-fiy
County will receive $3 million
in federal COVID funds
Board of Commissioners moving to new meeting schedule
Pickens County Commissioners Becky Denney, Jerry
Barnes, and Chairman Kris Stancil discuss local allotment
of federal "American Rescue Plan " funds at the recent
work session.
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