From Conversation to Community: Advocacy in Action for Mental Health and SUD Treatment Providers
- jameliahand
- May 7
- 3 min read
By Jamelia Hand MHS CADC CODP I
Dr. F was ready.
She had hung up her credentials, the proper business licenses, the electronic health record system installed, and a highly trained clinical team. What she didn’t have? A community that understood what her new Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) service meant. Or more importantly, what it didn’t mean.
That’s where I stepped in.
One of the most meaningful services I offer my clients at Vantage Clinical Consulting is what I call matrix building. It’s boots-on-the-ground work, literally. When a provider is opening a new practice or expanding into MAT, I don’t just review protocols or staffing ratios. I lace up my track shoes and head into the community.
I visit the neighbors: the pharmacist around the corner, the church across the street, the urgent care down the block. I share the provider’s vision and talk through community concerns. I answer questions. I give context. We schedule an open house for local partners to tour the space, meet the staff, and learn about referral pathways and protocols.
We don’t just build a program, we build trust.
This work isn’t glamorous. It’s often invisible. But it’s advocacy in its purest form. It’s showing up before the stigma does. It’s transforming assumptions into understanding. And it’s creating a local ecosystem where clients, providers, and community members grow together, not apart.
May Is Made for This Work…
May isn’t just a page on the calendar, it’s a convergence of holidays that spotlight every layer of the system that holds behavioral healthcare together:
🌿 National Mental Health Awareness Month and Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week (May 5-12), calls us to reduce stigma and center wellness in every community.
⚖️ National Treatment Court Month highlights the brilliance of alternative justice models that prioritize recovery over punishment.
🌍 International Harm Reduction Day (May 7) reminds us that everyone deserves dignity and safety, regardless of where they are in their journey.
🩺 National Nurses Week (May 5–12) and National Hospital Week (May 5–12) honor the clinicians, care managers, and support staff who do this work with heart, skill, and humanity.
These observances are not just symbolic. They are strategic entry points to educate, engage, and activate the public and your partners. They are a reminder that treatment doesn’t begin and end inside a clinic. It begins in neighborhoods, in schools, in courtrooms, and in hospital hallways.
Turning Awareness Into Action
If you’re not already doing so, now is the time to:
• Host an open house or partner meet-and-greet in your facility.
• Launch a webinar or training for referral partners or community members.
•. Create a local campaign to share stories of recovery, harm reduction, and resilience.
• Recognize your internal champions, including nurses, peer workers, and administrative staff.
•. Audit your current outreach efforts and assess how well your story is being told.
Don’t just participate, lead. Use May to align your mission with a message the world is already listening for.
How Vantage Clinical Consulting Can Help
At Vantage, we support providers across the behavioral health spectrum, especially those launching or expanding mental health or substance use treatment services. We offer:
✅ Marketing and outreach strategy
✅ Matrix-building and community engagement
✅ Field team assessments and training
✅ Open house and event planning support
✅ Referral relationship development
✅ Compliance and operational consultation
Whether you’re a physician preparing to launch a new MAT service, a nurse manager championing mental health programming, or a hospital administrator seeking to grow partnerships, we can help you build it. Sustainably. Strategically. Authentically.
Ask Yourself: How Are You Turning Conversations Into Action?
It’s not enough to provide care, we must also advocate for it, explain it, and protect it.
That’s how we normalize treatment. That’s how we grow healing communities.
Whether you’re hosting an event or building your matrix from scratch, Vantage is here to help.
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