Hope, care and connection at Ozarks Tech

Artist Riana Clark painted the bell that will stand in a small clearing in a valley on the nature trail at the Ozarks Technical Community College Richwood Valley campus in Ozark.  

The bell is the 19th Be Well Bell placed to celebrate mental health and wellness and to connect people who view the art with resources from Burrell Behavioral Health and other agencies operating in Greene and Christian counties. 

With her painting, Clark created an invitation for people to remember their value and their place in the world as they view the art, which she calls “One Together.” The vertical lines and designs of varying colors and thicknesses symbolize threads. 

“Each unique thread is distinct, essential and irreplaceable,” Clark said. “’One Together’ asks us to recognize ourselves in the fabric of our community, to seek help when we need it, to offer support when we can and to celebrate the tapestry we weave when we show up for one another.” 

Ozarks Tech students and faculty and team members from Burrell Behavioral Health celebrated the bell’s unveiling at a ceremony April 24, at Ozarks Tech Richwood Valley. 

Support for students and the Christian County community 

Burrell Behavioral Health Director of Be Well Initiatives Bailey Pyle, LPC explained the Be Well Community launched its bell program in 2021 with the goal of “changing the way we view conversations about mental health, reducing the stigma about mental health and starting to create home and lives we enjoy living.” 

Ozarks Tech Chancellor Hal Higdon, also a member of the boards of directors for Burrell Behavioral Health and its parent company, Brightli, appreciates having the bell on the Richwood Valley campus, where more than 900 commuter students come to pursue degrees. 

“Our students now, more than ever are challenged in many, many ways,” Higdon said. “They’re challenged academically, they’re challenged financially, they’re challenged politically and they’re challenged emotionally and we have to be there to support them, and we have such a great partner in Burrell.” 

Breaking down the stigma of getting help 

The Be Well Bell program offers blank bells to be painted with a meaningful design for public display. The bell is symbolic in the world of behavioral health. When state-run asylums were closed, metal workers took the chains and shackles that were once used to restrain institutionalized persons and cast the metal to make bells. 

“This bell is very, very emblematic of the breaking down of what was a stigma many years ago,” Higdon said. 

The Phi Theta Kappa academic honor society chapter at Ozarks Tech was instrumental in bringing the bell to the Richwood Valley campus. The students carefully researched community research projects tied to resources for students and faculty, and they landed on the Be Well Community and its bell program. 

Burrell Behavioral Health Southwest Region President Clay Goddard joined Higdon in discussing how the negative stigma that surrounds behavioral health is eroding one conversation and one positive initiative at a time. 

"Even 15 years ago I don’t think we would have had these kinds of ceremonies, so that to me shows that the stigma is dissolving,” Goddard said. “We’re continuing with all partners to increase mental health support in the Ozarks, and certainly Ozarks Tech has been part of that.”  

About Burrell Behavioral Health: Burrell Behavioral Health serves 18 Missouri counties and provides behavioral health, substance-use treatment, case management, crisis, developmental disability and employment services. Burrell Behavioral Health is a subsidiary of Brightli, Inc. Learn more at burrellcenter.com. 

Media contact: Rance Burger, Director of Media Relations  
Email: rance.burger@burrellcenter.com