To Learn more about mental health in the workplace initiative or to get involved, please contact Stephanie Lucy, UWCC Program Manager empower@Unitedwayccfl.org or 941-627-3539.
Because We Can't Afford to Stop
By Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director
Unregulated anxiety is now the #1 mental health issue in the U.S. That statistic doesn’t just reflect a diagnosis—it reflects the weight people are carrying every single day. The world feels heavier. The pace of life feels faster. The future feels more uncertain. It’s no wonder that so many of us feel overwhelmed.
Every day brings something new, and often, something heavy. And yet, there’s not enough help to go around. Waitlists are long. Services are stretched thin. People are falling through the cracks — not because they’re not trying, but because the system isn’t keeping up.
So why do we keep talking about mental health? Because we have to. This is just the start — so why stop now? Because when we talk, we build understanding. We fight stigma. We open doors for ourselves and for others.
If we stop now, it’s like slapping on a band-aid and saying, “Here’s your tip sheet. Good luck.” We’ve only just begun to move mental health out of the shadows and treat it like the priority it truly is. To stop now would be to lose ground we’ve barely gained.
On July 15, we held session two of our Workplace Thrive Academy workshop — a series that began after our United at Work Summit, designed to build awareness and solutions within our business and nonprofit communities. One thing became clear: needs are shifting across Charlotte County, and they’re not always easy to anticipate. Mental health challenges don’t follow a predictable script, they surface in unexpected ways, at unexpected times.
That’s why we must be proactive rather than reactive. Waiting until there’s a crisis is already too late.
We need champions across the county, people who are trained, trusted, and ready to respond with empathy, insight, and resources. And we need better education, especially among our aging population, where misdiagnosis between dementia and mental illness is far too common. Knowing the difference matters. Aging-competent, mental-health-proficient care isn’t optional — it’s essential.
This work isn’t isolated, it affects everyone.
Mental health doesn’t discriminate. It touches every age, every income, every background. And at UWCC, we serve everyone. We see firsthand how mental health is woven into every family, every workplace, every neighborhood. This isn’t about one group or one issue, this is about all of us.
Thanks to the way UWCC brings nonprofits and community leaders together, we hold a unique position, and a deep responsibility to lead this charge. But we can’t do it alone.
As one of our workshop participants wisely put it: “We’ve gotta stop just pulling people from the river— we’ve got to go upstream and figure out why they’re in there in the first place.”
That’s the work ahead. Meeting people where they are — but not leaving them there.
If we stay committed, if we keep pushing forward, the next 10 years can look very different. But it starts with not giving up — and not going silent. We’re just getting started.
If you’re a business leader and would like to learn more about our mental health in the workplace initiatives, or if you feel compelled to get involved and support this work, please visit: unitedwayccfl.org/DontStop
For more information about United Way of Charlotte County’s mission: Mobilizing the power of our community to break the cycle of poverty, please contact Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director. She can be reached at director@unitedwayccfl.org.