Mental Health Awareness Month was designated in the U.S. to nationally decrease the stigma surrounding mental health and encourage open conversation to prevent suicides, violence, depression and other problems associated with low mental health.
PRA Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRAA), a global leader in acquiring and collecting nonperforming loans, is honoring this designated month by introducing a Mental Emotional Well-Being (MEW) Employee Resource Group (ERG) across the company’s worldwide operations.
The ERG will strive to help PRA Group employees find the wellness resources they need, learn more about the topics that interest them and help improve awareness throughout the company.
The group will be led by Chris Tignor, vice president, chief information security officer, and Timothy Santo, global controller. Ashley Little, senior account executive of operations, and Melva Staton, legal recovery clerk, will serve as the ERG’s liaisons to PRA Group’s Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee.
“Mental health and emotional well-being are important for everyone,” said Santo. “We all experience ups and downs, but for many generations, mental health was a topic few wanted to address and didn’t want to be labeled. We now know that mental and emotional well-being are critical to physical health, work performance and overall happiness.”
“We have also learned through recent studies how detrimental loneliness can be to mental wellness, and the resulting importance of meaningful social connections,” said Tignor. “For all of these reasons and more, we are excited to provide our employees with MEW to share resources, help each other and build a network.”
MEW’s focus will be twofold: to grow mental and emotional health awareness and to offer support and resources to help with mental and emotional illness.
“Whether our colleagues are dealing with grief, anxiety, depression or are just trying to stay mentally healthy, our goal will be to provide a safe space where they can find and share resources, learn together and forge relationships with fellow PRA employees,” said Little.
“At PRA Group, we prize our culture of lifting one another up so that everyone can be themselves and be their best,” said Staton. “It extends to every one of our teammates around the world, and out into our community because it characterizes who we are.”
In establishing the MEW ERG, PRA Group continues an historic commitment to mental wellness. A long-time supporter of EQUI-KIDS and its EQUI-VETS program, PRA Group was a presenting sponsor of the nonprofit’s 15th Annual Stall Ball in November, whose proceeds directly supported programming promoting cognitive, physical, emotional and social well-being in children, veterans and others through equine-assisted therapy work.
PRA Group is also currently helping to fund the construction of a state-of-the-art pediatric mental health hospital and outpatient center with a recent $100,000 contribution to The Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD) Lighting the Way campaign.
Additionally, recognizing the strain of working during the pandemic, PRA Group began offering its employees 18 digital courses promoting mental and emotional well-being as part of its company-wide Total Rewards benefits package.
To stay up to date on PRA Group’s community engagement and resources for employees, visit www.linkedin.com/company/pragroup and follow us @PRAGroupInc on Facebook and Instagram.
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