Mental health and substance use issues are common. Nearly one in five U.S. adults lives with a mental illness according to the National Institute of Mental Health. From 1999 to 2016, 630,000 people died from drug overdose according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Give someone in your community a hand by learning how to recognize and respond when someone might need help with a free Mental Health First Aid workshop offered by University of Illinois Extension and the North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center.

Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based program, whe...