Sometimes, the hardest thing is asking for help.
Balance & Beyond, a mental health jam, was hosted at the Central Library in Shepherdsville on Aug 23, 2025, to share local resources and offer support.
Many booths were set up by local partners of the Mental Health department, who wanted to spread messages and resources to the Bullitt County community. Mental health goes hand in hand with physical health; if you aren’t physically healthy, neither is your mind. Hayley Barr, the event coordinator, wants to spread wishes and improvements for next year.
“There’s help out here. You know, there’s resources, unlimited amounts of resources. And I just want everybody to know that this resource is available,” Amber Ramsey, outreach coordinator for Roaring Brook, said.
Roaring Brook is an Intensive Outpatient Treatment Center that helps people get low-income housing, help with substance use, and mental health treatment. Even though it’s located in Lexington, Kentucky, it is one of many options to receive help.
“I really hope that just everyone who does attend the event, they walk away with something, whether it’s, you know, a resource, some type of education that they received here, or maybe they learned about, for instance, coping mechanisms,” Barr said.
The previous year’s event was in partnership with Louisville’s Mindfest to educate the community about suicide prevention. A survey was taken last year to help tailor the event to the Bullitt County community. The results came back with people wanting to know about local resources and men’s mental health.
“I don’t think everyone has to run a marathon. I think everyone would do great if we ate, like, a couple more vegetables and walked outside in the sun. I think that would improve everyone’s quality of life massively,” Hannah Southard, a local personal trainer, said.
Southard mentioned how only about 5% of Americans eat enough fiber, and 28% get at least 20 minutes of exercise a day. A goal of one small walk in the sun each day could help improve both mental and physical health, as they go hand in hand.
“I think kids here in high school maybe don’t want to do a sport, that’s fine, but you still should do something for your body. Maybe you go for a walk or you want to do some strength training at the gym,” Southard said.
Southard spoke fondly of how one of her clients had a love for theatre, so they did theatre dance-style exercise. Finding something you enjoy is key to wanting to exercise and increasing your health overall.
“That’s going to be something that we do annually. We want to be able to do this every year. We want to be able to provide something really good to the community.” Barr said.
Barr hopes that next year they will host another event with a new focus, many local partners supporting, and a high participation rate. She hopes to include more high school and middle school students to help support school mental health and educate kids on ways to remain healthy.
