Hey, I am a new user at Icarus Project, but I have been interested in it for a while. My main connection to mental health issues and those who need mental health services has been through community radio, and through the experiences of someone close to me.

Keep in mind, I am writing this to ask for help in the form of advice/resources/ideas etc.

Last year I was involved in a community radio project called Radio Diferencia that is produced and recorded by people interned in a psychiatric hospital in Chile. Now I am re-creating the project at a much more progressive and community-oriented mental health center called Gathering Hope House in Lorain, OH, near my school.

Many people at GHH are engaged by the idea of creating audio to put on the air (I mostly just bring in equipment and offer encouragement). The only problem is that with some people, in some instances, I cannot tell whether I am encouraging them to speak publicly about things they want to talk about (that they may have brought up, etc), or whether I am pushing them to elaborate on things they do not want to. How can I make this project educational, completely voluntary, etc, while still providing guidance in producing media? I have made connections with people, but I feel like an outsider when I bring up sensitive issues. Still, I feel like the people at GHH have amazing stories to tell and could really educate themselves and others through this project. Again, any help or ideas would be fantastic.