The Onslow Mental Health Awareness Coalition began with a simple request for collaboration.
Integrated Family Services reached out to Onslow Victims Center with the idea of planning an event together. The goal was to bring the community together around mental health, substance use awareness, and the resources available in Onslow County.
As more organizations were invited into the planning process, the conversation quickly grew. During the first meeting, it became clear that this work needed to be bigger than one event. Around the table, partners began naming the same concerns: people were struggling to find help, families were overwhelmed trying to navigate services, and many people were reaching crisis points before they ever knew support existed.
We talked about the barriers people face every day. Access. Funding. Technology. Transportation. Communication between agencies. Referral processes. Professional turnover. The challenge of knowing who provides what, where to go, how to begin, and what support is actually available.
The need was clear.
In Onslow County, there are organizations doing meaningful work, but resources are not always easy to find, understand, or access. Our community includes military families, veterans, children, teens, parents, caregivers, older adults, uninsured residents, Spanish speaking families, rural communities, people with disabilities, trauma survivors, individuals impacted by substance use, and many others who deserve support that is easier to navigate.
From that conversation, the idea for the Onslow Mental Health Matters Resource Guide was born.
The guide was created to be more than a list of phone numbers. It is a tool for connection. It is designed to help community members, families, providers, schools, first responders, and organizations better understand what support exists, who it serves, how to access it, and where to begin.
As the guide developed, we also recognized that one person or one agency could not maintain this work alone. Resources change. Needs shift. Agencies grow, move, adjust services, and experience turnover. To keep the guide meaningful and useful, we needed ongoing collaboration.
That is how the resource guide grew into a coalition.
The Onslow Mental Health Awareness Coalition was created to strengthen mental health and substance use support in Onslow County through community outreach, resource connection, collaborative partnerships, accessible tools, and ongoing awareness of community needs and gaps.
OMHAC brings together providers, advocates, organizations, and community members who each bring a different perspective. Advisory leads help represent the needs of specific populations so this work remains intentional, inclusive, and connected to the people it is meant to serve.
Care Out Loud became the message behind the work.
To care out loud means to make support visible. It means talking about mental health and substance use with compassion. It means sharing resources, checking on people, listening without judgment, and reminding others that they are not alone.
Every person involved in this coalition has their own reason for why they care out loud. Some have personal experiences. Some have lost people they love. Some work in this field every day. Some have watched families struggle to find help. Together, those stories are the heart of OMHAC.
What began as a conversation became an event.
What began as an event became a resource guide.
And what began as a resource guide became a coalition committed to access, awareness, hope, and collaboration.
The Onslow Mental Health Matters Resource Guide will officially launch here on June 16, 2026, as one of OMHAC’s first major tools for helping our community find and navigate support.
Our story is still being written, but the heart of it is simple: no one in Onslow County should have to navigate mental health, substance use, or trauma recovery alone. When a community chooses to care out loud together, support becomes easier to see, easier to find, and easier to believe in.