Behind the Apron: I Got Your Back
“Ours is an industry with a problem we don’t like to talk about, but we can’t keep shying away from the hard conversations. I Got Your Back is peer-to-peer support that helps us watch for signs of distress and gives us a safe place to talk about our personal struggles.”
– Bobbin Mulvaney, owner of the Mulvaney’s B&L in Sacramento, California
Sacramento Contemporary Dance Theatre is proud to offer support to the I Got Your Back campaign to destigmatize mental health in the restaurant industry through our joint Behind the Apron concert and project. Behind the Apron is an intimate look inside the restaurant industry where the curtain is lifted and the vulnerable side of being a server is the focus. Recognition of mental health issues that can lead to addiction and suicide is the first step to promoting emotional well being, and the importance of standing by one another to make important change happen across the table can be the difference in improving outcomes in this industry.
"I Got Your Back teaches employees to look for warning signs, creates acceptance and a safe environment to talk about personal crisis and provides access to resources for those struggling. It all started with a simple decision: To allow it to be okay not to be okay. The goal is to provide tools and skills to identify and talk about mental health issues in a safe environment that encourages people to seek help they may need. It was this culture change that co-owners Patrick and Bobbin introduced at Mulvaney’s B&L in Sacramento, CA with the help of the Innovation Learning Network. Together they inspired a new system where employees drop a card into an anonymous box when they clock in for a shift. This gives employees a safe place to express their state of mind and the floor manager a new method for knowing how the crew is doing and feeling. Taking a temperature of the crew this way alerts the manager to red flags they might not otherwise have known and it presents the chance to check-in and offer support."
If you are in distress or need support, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255), the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, or text HOPE to 916-668-4226.
