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The event will be held on Thursday, Oct. 17, at Metropolis Country Club in White Plains. The annual event benefits and builds mental health services in Westchester.
MHA’s Phoenix Award is bestowed upon individuals who shatter the stigma of mental illness. These individuals share their stories and experiences publicly and positively to break down shame associated with mental illness.
Solomon’s first book, "The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression" won the 2001 National Book Award for non-fiction and was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize. The book examines depression in personal, cultural, and scientific terms and draws on his own struggle.
Solomon's newest book, "Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity," tells the stories of parents who not only have come to terms with their exceptional children, but have found profound meaning in doing so. Solomon’s startling proposition is that diversity is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, multiple disabilities, with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. Woven into these courageous and affirming stories is Solomon’s journey to accepting his own identity, which culminated in his midlife decision, influenced by this research, to become a parent.
Solomon has just completed his PhD in psychology at Cambridge University. He is a lecturer in Psychiatry at Weill-Cornell Medical College. He is an activist and philanthropist in LGBT rights, mental health, education and the arts. Solomon lives with his husband and son in New York and London.
Also being honored at the event are Dr. Lisa Dixon, MD, MPH, Director, Center for Practice Innovations, NYSPI, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Willa Brody, Director of Government and Community Relations, New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Ralph Lieblich, MHA Volunteer.
MHA is a community-based mental health agency that has been helping Westchester County residents for 67 years through direct services, professional and community education and advocacy.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the MHA website.
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