Breaking the Stigma Car Show raises awareness for mental health, suicide prevention

Jun. 3—Dozens of cars, trucks and other vehicles were gathered for a June 3 car show designed to raise awareness of mental health and suicide prevention.

Josh Stewart organized the inaugural Breaking the Stigma Car Show at the Lake County Fairgrounds in honor of his 21-year-old son, Corey, who died by suicide in April 2022. Representatives from local mental health organizations attended the show, which raised funds for the Lake County affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Stewart was motivated to start the show by his and Corey's shared interest in cars.

"I felt, after his suicide and learning more and more about mental health and suicide prevention, that there wasn't a lot of talk publicly," he said.

"Instead of turning to alcohol and being upset about my son's death, I took all those emotions of anger, sadness, confusion and I said, I need to do something positive, so I decided to do a car show since my son loved car shows," Stewart added. "He's a motorhead just like I am."

The selection of vehicles ranged from classic cars to trucks, a military vehicle and Painesville Township fire engines. There were awards across a variety of categories, including best of show, NAMI's choice and veterans choice.

Kim Davis brought his 1966 Volkswagen Dune Buggy to the event.

"They need to have more things like this so there's more awareness and everything like that," Davis said. "Nobody needs to go like that."

Shawn Hamrick came from Niles with his 2019 Peterbilt "Remember Everyone Deployed" truck, which is designed to honor service members.

"First chance I had to do something for suicide, being that my brothers committed suicide, I'm for it," he said. "Bring awareness, help people out."

The event also included food trucks, while various businesses and organizations entered the show as vendors. Among those vendors were NAMI Lake County and Crossroads Health.

"The importance of an event like this is to bring mental health to the forefront, getting more people out and aware of what's available in their community as far as resources," said Crossroads Community Development Coordinator Scott Smith.

He noted that Crossroads offers services including counseling, dual diagnosis and group therapy, as well as primary care.

"Now we can see the whole patient," Smith said. You come in for mental health services, we can also test your blood sugar as well."

He noted that people can reach Crossroads at crossroadshealth.org or 440-255-1700. According to the organization's website, it operates locations in Mentor, Painesville and Willoughby.

Joanna Mannon and Ashlee Himes both came to represent NAMI Lake County. They noted that the organization offers support groups for people with mental health conditions and their loved ones, with specific groups for veterans and people with substance use disorder. It also offers advocacy, education programs and support for parents, among other services.

Mannon noted that all of NAMI's services are free.

"They always say it takes a village to raise children," Himes said. "It also takes a village to support adults and stuff, so we're really trying to be that village for people that feel like they don't have a village, or feel isolated."

More information is available at namilakecountyohio.org or by calling 440-639-1200.

The car show raised funds through a $20 participant fee, a Chinese auction and a raffle, Stewart said. Around 80 cars had pre-registered before the event.

In addition to raising awareness, he expressed hope that the event would save a life and teach visitors "what to look for within their own loved ones."

"It's ok not to be ok, it's ok to find somebody to talk to, it's nothing to be ashamed of," Stewart added.

According to the NAMI Lake County crisis webpage, the Lake County Crisis Hotline can be reached at any time by calling 440-953-8255. A trained crisis counselor can also be reached by texting NAMI to 741-741.

Stewart added that people can dial 988 for the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. According to the website, veterans can press 1 after dialing 988 to access the Veterans Crisis Line.

"Make sure you utilize that, because they're licensed therapists, they're there to help you out and make sure you get out of that dark place and back into the light," he said.

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