Kim Nelson | Marketing & Outreach Director | CooperRiis Healing Community | Learn More                   

Asheville NC's Mayor Esther E. Manheimer proudly announced that May 20th, 2024 was designated as CooperRiis Mental Health Awareness Day. This proclamation coincided with Mental Health Awareness Month and underscored the City’s commitment to promoting mental health advocacy and destigmatization within the community. 

To commemorate the significant declaration, CooperRiis Healing Community hosted a special event at CooperRiis at Asheville’s courtyard, located at 85 Zillicoa St in Asheville, NC. CooperRiis Staff, Asheville Community Members, mental health professionals, journalists, and alumni showed up to help with the declaration and celebration. 

The event featured representatives of CooperRiis, including its founders Don Cooper and Lisbeth Riis Cooper, as well as its Chief Clinical Officer, Johnie Featherston, President and CEO Eric A. Levine, and Chief Program Officer Lisa Schactman. These individuals shared mental health insights, stories of recovery, and discussed CooperRiis’s holistic and person-centered approach to recovery. 

Eric Levine states, “CooperRiis breaks the stigma associated with mental illness and raises awareness of the challenges individuals face. We remain dedicated to offering more people access to ground-breaking mental health care through expanded insurance coverage and innovative programs, including residential treatment and transitional services. 

The event was a heartwarming experience, filled with alumni sharing their experiences and how CooperRiis made a difference by treating them as individuals and with respect, and some named that their lives were "saved". CooperRiis was proud to unite these groups and to promote mental health awareness and support individuals on their journey towards wellness.