BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm Melissa Wright in Omaha where acknowledging mental health is becoming more common especially for minorities.
For one woman who experienced mental health challenges years ago, she says the awareness and resources that are available today are great but there is still a lot of work to be done.
Gaynelle Calloway started using substances when she was 12 and her addiction progressed to crack cocaine by the time she reached 21.
"Didn't really even know of any resources that I could use to stay sober. It never really even crossed my mind that, that might be something that I needed to do," said Calloway.
Calloway says she became sober for six years in her early twenties but ended up relapsing due to the resources that weren't available at the time.
'We don't need that'… 'there's no such thing as mental illness'….'you know all you gotta do is stop getting high'…'all you gotta do is stop using'…and that's just not the case that's not true. You know most of us need help to really be able to maintain recovery… it's virtually impossible to do this alone." said Calloway.
Statistics that that substance abuse and mental health relate to each other and in some cases substances are used to self medicate to cope with with mental health challenges.
"I would say I was pretty close to being suicidal...didn't have a plan or anything like that but just the way I was living." said Calloway.
According to the department of health and human services, 15% of African Americans are living with anxiety disorder and 13% of both African Americans and Hispanics are diagnosed with depressive disorder in Nebraska.
Tori Cassidy with the heartland family service says these statistics are what makes their work with the community critical.
"That's why it's so important for us to be proactive instead of reactive because we know being proactive saves lives," said Cassidy.
Calloway who's been sober for over 10 years works at the Heartland Family Service service in Omaha an organization that works with the community when it comes to counseling, support services, education and advocacy.
"I help them get connected to different resources in the community, I help them with crisis intervention..if they've used or they're just having a bad day. They can call me my phone is on all the time," said Cassidy
Calloway tells me staying sobriety and maintaining her mental health is a daily effort. And the resources available today, she did not have which is why the work she does to help others is important.
