The town of New Canaan has been covered in green ribbons throughout the month of May as part of Mental Health Awareness Month.

The project is spearheaded by the New Canaan Behavioral Health Alliance - a group of more than 40 local schools and organizations that have come together to try to improve access to mental health resources and advocate for better programs.

"People were already thinking about all these issues, there was no shortage of interest, but we hadn't quite figured out a way to come together," said Andrew Gerber, the president and medical director at Silver Hill Hospital, who always serves as co-chair of the BHA.

Their first major project was a townwide survey back in the fall, which found that at least a third of New Canaan residents didn't know where to go for mental health, substance abuse and domestic violence issues.

“There's so much information out there, it's almost overwhelming," said Lauren Patterson, the president and CEO of the New Canaan Community Foundation, as well as a BHA co-chair. "We really didn't want people to just have to rely on a search engine."

"And most of the information you come across is not that helpful," added Gerber.

So the first step for the BHA was to create their website providing one central landing page with resources including spots to get free psychiatric assessments, personalized specialists, and 24/7 crisis support lines.

"We are fortunate, there are great providers locally, we have on our alliance website a sort of portal where you can see what are some of the easiest ways to access care," Patterson said. "But we know we have to increase that visibility."

That is where the ribbons and flyers come in. Each has a QR code, which goes straight to the BHA website.

"One of the things I love about this community - there's a lot of smart, creative people and everybody's thinking together from a marketing perspective, from a website perspective, to a how do you get this information out," Gerber said.

Even if people don't need the information now or even for themselves, Gerber and Patterson said that the most important thing is just letting people know that it exists.

"People aren't looking for a resource until they need it, so this is something, it's great to do during May for Mental Health Awareness Month. But really, we have to get out there in the community on a regular basis, so that when folks are looking for something, it's right in front of them," said Patterson.

The BHA has already started working with other towns nearby.

The next project in New Canaan will be a deeper dive into what specific groups of people need more and better resources the most.