The organization Faith Connections on Mental Illness is holding its fifth annual conference in Chapel Hill next Friday, April 10, highlighting its work in the area to “improve perceptions and provide resources to those who need information about mental illness.”

Amy Simpson will deliver the keynote at Friday’s conference; she’s the senior editor of Leadership Journal and the author of Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church’s Mission and Anxious: Choosing Faith in a World of Worry. Other speakers include Alan Johnson, the co-founder of Interfaith Network on Mental Illness; Shelly Danser of Mental Health America of the Triangle and UNC Schizophrenia Research Center director John Gilmore.

The conference runs from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Among other things, it’s designed to help faith communities start their own mental health ministries – as churches and other faith communities can be invaluable in the ongoing struggle for mental health.

WCHL’s Aaron Keck spoke with Miriam Fahrer and David Chapman of Faith Connections on Mental Illness.

For more information and to register for the conference, visit WakeAHEC.org. Registration is $35.

To learn more about Faith Connections on Mental Illness, visit FaithConnectionsOnMentalIllness.org.