WellStone

23/07/2025

Rennen! Run! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️
Registration is NOW OPEN for the 2025 Oktoberfest 5K/10K Races—happening October 4 as part of Cullman's annual celebration!

🔗 REGISTER HERE: runsignup.com/2025oktoberfestrace

We’re proud to partner with Fleet Feet Huntsville/Madison to bring you a professionally timed race experience. Whether you’re a seasoned runner or a first-time walker, everyone is welcome!

Register early for the best price on this unique 5K/10K experience and family-friendly weekend event.

💛 Proceeds benefit mental health and well-being in the Cullman and Huntsville/Madison area.

🔍 Learn more about the full festival: cullmanoktoberfestival.com

18/07/2025

Thanks to everyone who came out to this quarter's WellRead book club featuring Britney Spears' memoir, The Woman in Me. 📚🫶 📚 (Thanks to Mo Thornton for moderating, and The Episcopal Church of the Nativity for hosting!)

💚 We all watched her unravel in the tabloids, and later on social media. During our discussion, most of us admitted our opinions of her softened after hearing "her side" of the story. It was her story to tell, after all. 💙

A few takeaways:
📚When she was a child, her family treated her like an adult (giving her alcohol, for instance); when she was an adult, they treated her like a child (stripping her of her power through conservatorship).
📚Post-partum depression is another "real" condition that still carries its own stigma in the mental health space. Stats show up to 1 in 7 new moms experience this disorder.
📚While conservatorship is often used to help our loved ones in times of crisis, Britney's father, in particular, used it as a weapon, locking his grown daughter under his control for 13 years.
📚Mental illness and addiction are complicated issues, with genetic and environmental factors contributing to both. Britney had a family history of mental illness and alcoholism, and a highly dysfunctional upbringing. While we can't say for sure what led to her downward spiral, the odds, it seems, were stacked against her.

Read the book (or listen)? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

17/07/2025

When the community has a dream, and the eventual reality becomes far more impactful than any of us ever imagined. Thank you, Brooke, Megan and al.com, for getting the word out.
https://www.al.com/news/2025/07/they-arent-alone-in-its-first-year-new-madison-county-facility-has-helped-300-teens.html

Wellstone, Inc.'s inpatient psychiatric crisis care center has been open since Sept. 2024

16/07/2025

💙 What a meaningful and productive day for our Cullman Substance Use Disorder team! 💙

They were among the many mental health and addiction recovery professionals attending Quest Prevention Services' eighth annual Opioid Summit in Decatur Tuesday.

Attendees heard from Decatur Battalion Chief Bobby Peavler, along with author, ESPN sideline reporter, and 2023 Beacon of Hope speaker Lauren Sisler. ☀️🫶☀️

Thanks to the Mental Health Center of North Central Alabama for coordinating this positive educational opportunity.

16/07/2025

Great info as we prepare for back-to-school shopping... and budgeting!

💵 Parents and teachers, get ready for tax-free weekend!

Alabama’s Back-to-School Tax-Free Weekend starts at midnight this Friday, 7/18, and will last through Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Check out our list of eligible items below, and see the full list at the link in the comments!

08/07/2025

Need a more flexible way to access therapy?
WellStone offers virtual appointments for both new and existing clients!

✅ Great for:
• Transportation challenges
• Mobility issues
• Personal scheduling needs

💬 Talk to a licensed therapist from the comfort of home.
📞 Call our Access to Care team to get started!

07/07/2025

Annual End Addiction HSV Walk at Big Spring Park hosted by Not One More Alabama - NOMA

04/07/2025

Happy Fourth of July! Outpatient offices are closed today in observance of the holiday. 🎇

We will resume normal business hours on Monday 7/7.

03/07/2025

Happy (almost) Fourth of July, from us to you! Outpatient offices will be closed tomorrow 7/4 in observance of the holiday.

We will resume normal business hours on Monday 7/7.

02/07/2025

These Are the Donors Behind Our Quiet Nooks 💙

From the very beginning, the quiet nooks were part of the vision for the WellStone Emergency Services Pediatric Unit. The nooks provide a calming space for kids to read, write, decompress, or even meet with Dr. Finn during therapy sessions.

We’re honored to recognize the donors who made these spaces possible:

• Christy Nichelson, in memory of Miriam J. Burnett
• Rachel Brown, in memory of Richard Hunter Brown
• The Jayne Family
• The Optimist Club of South Huntsville

These thoughtful spaces add a softer, more comforting touch to a clinical environment.

You can still be part of this transformational project. Naming opportunities remain available, email karen.petersen@wellstone.com to learn more.

30/06/2025

Thanks to everyone at the IMS Employee Peaks Fund for your generosity. Your support will help provide much-needed updates and enhancements to one of WellStone's oldest group homes. Your gift will allow us to move mountains as we create a more comfortable and dignified living space for residential clients in our care.

27/06/2025

What an honor to be included in this round of grant recipients! We're so thankful for the support and proud to stand alongside so many organizations doing meaningful work across our communities. ⛰️💙

IMS' Employee Peaks Fund contributors were thrilled to grant $60,000 to 14 organizations during the first grant cycle of 2025. Thank you to these organizations who make our communities stronger! To read more about the organizations who received grants, click here: https://tinyurl.com/5f2hyrdz ⛰️

Bringing Up Down Syndrome BUDS • Crisis Services of North Alabama • The Food Pantry of North Branford • FOCAL Foster Children's Alliance • Free 2 Teach • Lamplight • Land Trust of North Alabama • Make-A-Wish Alabama • Merrimack Huntsville • NextOp Veterans • Princess Hailey's Hope Foundation • The Schools Foundation • ShowerUp Huntsville • WellStone