Centerstone to Host Mental Health Awareness Tailgate at Gateway Grizzlies Ballpark

SAUGET - Centerstone will commemorate Mental Health Awareness Month with a tailgate at an upcoming Gateway Grizzlies game.

On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, community members are invited to the Grizzlies Ballpark in Sauget for the pre-game tailgate at 4:30 p.m. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and the game starts at 6:30 p.m. Centerstone’s Jennifer Schulz explained that the organization looks forward to welcoming the community for a mini resource fair and fun at the ballpark.

“We are super excited about this,” Schulz said. “It’s the first time that we’ve done a partnership of this kind. It’s going to be a really exciting day.”

Local mental health resources and providers will be at the tailgate to provide more information about their services. Centerstone will also be on hand with a table detailing their work to combat mental health and substance use disorders.

Schulz emphasized that Centerstone is eager to collaborate with other organizations in the region to help people get the support they need.

“We want to be able to help our community members as best as we can,” she said. “That includes making sure that we’re also educated on all of our other resources and what they have to offer and helping people get connected with who they need to be connected with and what’s going to help them out the most.”

In addition to the tailgate, there will be resource tables at the ballpark throughout the game, and Centerstone staff members will throw out the first pitch. Schulz noted that Gateway Grizzlies games offer “a lot of fun stuff” for families to enjoy, and she hopes the community can come out for an exciting night.

Most of all, Centerstone wants the event to facilitate more conversations around mental health and substance use. Schulz hopes that the relaxed environment and fun of the ballpark encourages people to open up and access the support they need.

“There’s still a lot of stigma around mental health, but I think that what we’re finding as we are getting out in the community more and more is that people are a lot more relaxed and comfortable when they’re also in an environment and doing something that they enjoy doing,” she said. “Just getting everybody out there in an exciting environment and being able to facilitate the conversation that way might encourage people to open up a little bit more when they’re not in a small room and just sitting with a therapist or something like that.”

As Centerstone gears up for the finale of their Mental Health Awareness Month campaign, Schulz urges community members to buy tickets to the May 28 Grizzlies game and get there early to enjoy the tailgate and connect with resources. The organization hopes to reach as many people as possible through events like this.

“We try to be as many places as we can and help as many people as we can,” Schulz said. “Serious mental illnesses affect millions of people, but that stigma is still keeping so many people from seeking help…It’s easy for us to show up at different events and have our trifolds and our cards, but to be able to connect with the community and let them access what they want and to be in an environment that’s most comfortable to them, I think that’s what’s most important to us, meeting our community where they are and just providing that safe space for them to ask the questions that they need to.”

For more information about Centerstone, including their upcoming events or how to access services, visit their official website at Centerstone.org.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

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