Initial achievements have been made, but there is still a long way to go.
The first rays of morning sunlight shone on the windowsill of the "Heart Harbor" community mental health service center in H City, an eastern province. Station director Wang Yafen arrived at the center half an hour early, as usual. She carefully polished the bronze plaque at the entrance, inscribed with the phrase "Government-led, Professionally Supported, Community-Based," a pilot unit, her eyes filled with cherishment.
After more than a year of operation, this service station, repurposed from a former community room, has become an integral part of the lives of nearby residents. The light wood floors are worn to a shine, the psychology books on the shelves are slightly curled at the edges, and the sofas in the group counseling area bear the occasional graffiti left by children—all of this bears witness to the daily life here.
"Stationmaster Wang, good morning!" Liu Yun, who lives in Building 3, walked in holding her child, a bright smile on her face. "My baby has a vaccination today, so I came here early because I wanted to talk to you."
Wang Yafen quickly took the child. Seeing this young mother, who just a year ago had been in tears due to postpartum depression, now calmly navigating the challenges of parenting, a warm feeling welled up in her heart. She still remembered the rainy night when Liu Yun's husband rushed to the service station for help, saying his wife had refused to eat or drink for two days. After three weeks of psychological counseling and family support, the family finally emerged from the dark clouds.
"My baby's sleep has become more regular lately," Liu Yun said softly. "I've also joined the mothers' support group you recommended. We often take our baby for walks together, and I feel less lonely."
Change is happening quietly in these seemingly insignificant daily lives.
After seeing Liu Yun off, Wang Yafen logged into the "Mental Health Public Service Collaboration Platform" to enter the week's data. The statistics that popped up on the screen were gratifying: in the past year since the platform's launch, it has provided psychological counseling and guidance services to 1,287 community residents, successfully identified and referred 17 crisis cases, conducted 45 themed salons on topics such as "parent-child communication" and "emotional management," and established follow-up records for 89 key populations.
Even more heartening for her is the shift in the demographics of the service—from initially focusing on middle-aged and elderly women to now encompassing a diverse age group, including teenagers, working professionals, and the elderly; and from initially focusing on problem-solving interventions to the increasing proportion of developmental services. The message board at the entrance to the service station is covered with notes from residents: "I found a place to talk here," "Thank you for being with me through the most difficult days," "I've learned how to get along with adolescents," and so on.
Meanwhile, at the pilot normal universities in central and western provinces, the "Lighthouse of the Soul" peer support program was holding its quarterly summary meeting. Li Xiaoyu traveled all the way from Beijing to meet with representatives of "Lighthouse Keepers" from 32 universities.
"Our school has seen big changes this semester," shared a "Lighthouse" from a science and engineering school. "Students used to feel ashamed to go to the counseling room, but now they actively come to us to chat. We even set up a 'Spirit Station' bookshelf in the dorms, which houses some self-help books, and they're often fully borrowed."
Another woman from an agricultural and forestry university added, "We've launched a 'Heart Tree Hole' activity, where students anonymously share their worries and discuss solutions together. What touched me most was one student writing, 'It turns out I'm not the only one who experiences anxiety.' This kind of resonance itself is healing."
Li Xiaoyu meticulously records each school's innovative practices. Data shows that since the implementation of the "Lighthouse of the Heart" program, 1,562 "lighthouse attendants" have been trained, directly serving over 21,000 students and impacting nearly 80,000 students through themed activities. Even more encouraging is that the rate of abnormal psychological assessments among students at pilot universities has decreased by 3.2 percentage points year-on-year, and students' awareness of psychological support channels has increased from less than 40% to 86%, significantly increasing their willingness to seek help.
After the meeting, the students presented Li Xiaoyu with a carefully curated casebook. She flipped open the cover, and the first sentence she read moved her eyes: "Here, every moment of being listened to is like a star in the night." The booklet contained true stories: a boy who overcame social anxiety and has now become a key member of a club; a senior student nearly collapsing under academic pressure, who regained her confidence with the help of a "lighthouse keeper"; and a psychological crisis averted by a roommate's timely recognition of her emotional anomaly.
These young faces, while illuminating others, have also found their own light.
At the foundation's headquarters in Beijing, Mo Xiaoyu's desk rests on two newly released evaluation reports. One, from a third-party research institute, reveals that public awareness of mental health and willingness to seek help in pilot areas are significantly higher than in control areas, demonstrating a more positive and optimistic social attitude. The other, an internal foundation review, reports that the three-tiered network model of "government leadership, professional support, and community implementation" has been operating smoothly in two pilot locations, successfully establishing a three-tiered service system of "early warning, intervention, and development," effectively channeling professional resources to grassroots communities and significantly improving grassroots service capabilities.
Mo Xiaoyu specifically asked her assistant to compile video footage from the pilot program. Watching the smiling faces scroll across the screen—the focused expressions of seniors attending a "Silver Psychology Class," the moments of relief for teenagers in group counseling, the earnest expressions of community workers receiving training—she deeply realized that what we are building is not just a service system, but an ecosystem where hope can grow.
However, despite the generally positive data, significant challenges remain. Mo Xiaoyu noted several issues requiring particular attention: Professional resource coverage remains limited in remote rural areas; service accessibility for special groups like migrant workers and people with disabilities needs improvement; and development is uneven across pilot programs, with some areas showing a tendency to prioritize hardware over software.
Even more worrying is recent feedback: a community service station's referral green channel isn't functioning smoothly; a university "lighthouse worker" is struggling to maintain service due to academic pressure; and some regions are overly focused on quantitative indicators while neglecting service quality.
"We need to hold an urgent seminar," Mo Xiaoyu told his assistant. "Please invite the leaders of the pilot regions and the expert advisory team to come over next week to focus on how to resolve any operational issues."
The atmosphere in the video conference room was warm and pragmatic. The head of the eastern pilot province spoke first: "Our biggest challenge right now is a shortage of professional talent. Although we've trained a large number of community workers through the 'Seed Program,' we're clearly short of professional supervisory resources to meet the growing demand for services."
A representative from a pilot city in central and western China went on to say, "Our problem here is unbalanced regional development. Service stations in the main urban areas operate well, but service quality at the county and township levels varies widely. We've recently tried to address this through a remote supervision system, but there are gaps in network conditions and staff quality."
The head of the university team also expressed confusion: "The 'Lighthouse' program is very popular among students, but how can we ensure the professionalism of the service? We recently encountered a complex case, and the student 'Lighthouse' promptly referred the case to a professional teacher. However, this process made us realize that a more comprehensive training and supervision mechanism is needed."
Expert consultant Professor Li said earnestly, "We must be wary of the tendency to promote mental health services in a campaign-like manner. Mental health services are a long-term endeavor that requires patience and perseverance. Now that the pilot program has achieved initial success, we must proceed steadily and lay a solid foundation."
The meeting lasted a whole day and eventually formed the focus of the next stage of work: establishing a more complete hierarchical training system, formulating service quality standards, optimizing the cross-departmental collaboration mechanism, and developing simple assessment tools that are more suitable for grassroots use.
In the evening, Mo Xiaoyu and Li Xiaoyu held their weekly video conference. On either side of the screen, they simultaneously discussed their future plans.
"Xiaoyu, our journey has just begun." Mo Xiaoyu looked at the smiling faces of the students on the screen, his tone calm and firm, "These small changes are the strength that keeps us moving forward, and the reason we can't stop."
She pulled up the newly completed plan for the next phase: "Next, we will focus on three areas: first, deepening existing pilot projects and standardizing successful experiences; second, expanding service areas, especially strengthening coverage in rural areas and for special groups; and third, promoting policy innovation and striving to incorporate mature services into the basic public health service package."
Li Xiaoyu carefully took notes and added, "For universities, I suggest launching an advanced 'Lighthouse Guardian' training program and developing more online service products tailored to the needs of university students. We've recently noticed that students' psychological support needs during winter and summer vacations are often overlooked, and this requires special attention."
After hanging up the video, Mo Xiaoyu stood alone at her office window. Outside, lights flickered on in countless homes. Under each light, perhaps a heart was being warmed, a life being transformed. She recalled a letter she had received not long ago. The university student, who had once dropped out of school due to depression and had now successfully completed her studies, wrote: "Thank you for making me realize that no matter how long the night is, the day will always dawn."
Yes, initial results are emerging: community service stations have become spiritual havens for residents, "beacons" on campus continue to shine, and mechanisms for government-society collaboration are constantly improving. But there's still a long way to go: how can we ensure that high-quality services benefit everyone? How can we build a more comprehensive social support system? How can we promote mental health for all at the root?
Every tiny change is a solid step towards a better future, and at the end of the steps is a brighter and warmer place. Mo Xiaoyu knows that what they need to do is to help everyone in need, steadily taking one step after another until they see the dawn that belongs to them.
Thousands of miles away, at a community service station in H City, Wang Yafen was organizing teaching materials for tomorrow's "Silver Hair Psychology Class." She'd specially prepared extra materials, as more and more elderly people were participating. Outside the window, the last rays of sunset reflected on the sky, blending with the streetlights and window lights to create a warm sea of light.
On this ordinary evening, countless such "harbors of the soul" quietly wait, awaiting the next person in need, ready to accompany them through the dark night of life and greet the dawn with professionalism and warmth. This is the unchanging original aspiration of Mo Xiaoyu and her team.
Behind every tiny set of data is a life that is blooming again.
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