The city is providing free training to first responders, school workers, volunteers and anyone else interested in mental health awareness.

The program involves role-playing, with participants working on understanding how people with mental health issues may feel when trying to communicate.

And it's free, provided by the city Department of Health and the ThriveNYC mental health education initiative.

Officials say they've trained about 70,000 New Yorkers so far. They expect to reach more than 250,000 by 2021.

Courses are offered in all five boroughs. Different sessions focus on different specialized demographics ranging from young adults to veterans to senior citizens.