Mental health activist Veronica Jacuinde has battled bipolar for almost two decades. It's because of this that she has worked with city officials to bring World Bipolar Day to Wasco.
- Vincent Van Gogh was known for some iconic pieces, but he was also believed to have had bipolar disorder.
- Every year on his birthday, communities everywhere gather to bring awareness to mental health, and bond through a mutual love of art.
The streets of Downtown Wasco typically always have cars on the road, but come the 30th, and it’ll be turned into the biggest art gallery the city has ever seen. It’s all part of one woman’s mission to break the stigma on mental health.
“I have bipolar. I’ve lived with the bipolar condition for almost two decades and this event has given me the courage finally come out and say you know what I have bipolar and I want to let people know you can live a happy and healthy life,” said organizer Veronica Jacuinde.
Jacuinde says through the World Bipolar Day Event, honoring bipolar artist Vincent Van Gogh, she wants to create a safe space for the people of Wasco when it comes to mental health.
Being a Latina, she says mental health is constantly stigmatized. With Wasco having a predominantly Hispanic population, she felt it was necessary to have the event here.
“In a community like Wasco, there are very few organizations or clinics that address mental health clinics so that makes it even more difficult, there’s the language barrier as well,” said Jacuinde.
However Jacuinde isn’t the only person involved in the making of this event. Wasco city council member Gilberto Reyna is a cofounder. Having been the mayor three times prior in his past, he tells me there is a definite need for this event in his community.
“Mental illness is prevalent in our community because I speak to members of elementary school district and the high school district and they say that there are a lot of children suffering from some type of mental illness,” said Reyna.
The five hour long event will feature an art gallery, murals painted by artists in honor of Van Gogh, multiple mental health resource booths including free depression and anxiety screenings and more.
Throughout the event, Jacuinde wants the community to know that even if they are struggling with a mental health illness, there is always something better out there.
“Im so proud to say that I am the editor of the Wasco Tribune,” said Jacuinde. “If you’re ready to find that right team of support then you can absolutely have a successful life and you can absolutely dream and the world is your limit.”
Though this is Wasco’s first World Bipolar Event, organizers intend to make this an annual event and have it expand out to other cities.
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