Celebrating Community at the 2024 Tony Hoffman Awards
The Tony Hoffman Community Mental Health Services Award recognizes individuals, professionals, businesses, and media who have made an extraordinary difference in the lives of individuals living with mental health challenges and the communities in which they live. This year’s recipients included a diverse group of individuals representing BHRS programs and staff, partner agencies, media outlets, peers and youth leaders. The Board of Supervisors recognized and honored each recipient of the Tony Hoffman Community Mental Health Service Award for making an extraordinary difference in the lives of people with mental health challenges and the San Mateo County community.
About the recipients:
Angel Nguyen, is a Mental Health Program Specialist with SMC-BHRS – Pathways Mental Health Court, Veterans Treatment Court/Military Diversion. In her position, she is creating pathways for justice-involved clients to have an alternative to jail option while keeping our communities safe. She is an advocate, a leader, and for the last 2 years she has been directly supervising a team of 6 employees where she is also a nurturer and supporter to her team as they provide mental health services to one of the most complexed clients in our county.
Heart and Soul makes a difference and impact on Peers through one-to-one mentoring and engagement towards community resources, employment opportunities, support and direct to housing resources. They celebrate the voices and lived experience of peers and create inviting, relatable, restorative groups and activities to connect with our diverse communities. Heart and Soul has provided for the past 15 years more than 90,000 peer to peer interactions. We are powered by Peers!
The Spanish interpreters of Language Circle of California Inc have made a tremendous difference in bridging the communication gap with Re(MIND). They have supported clinical interventions and even daily counseling services to support clients through their recovery journey.
Puente de la Costa Sur, founded in 1998, fosters wellness and prosperity in the San Mateo South Coast communities of Pescadero, La Honda, Loma Mar, and San Gregorio by promoting and advocating for equitable access to education, health, and economic security.
At Puente (meaning “bridge” in Spanish), they believe that self-sufficiency is essential for turning those dreams into reality. Every day, we walk side-by-side with our South Coast neighbors as they cross the bridge toward independence. By advocating for health, education, and community development, they elevate our communities to build confidence for themselves.
The 2023-2024 Behavioral Health Commission Youth Committee’s Youth Action Board (YAB) have embodied passion, commitment, creativity and collaboration to the utmost degree. Ranging from substance use recovery to suicide prevention, anxiety and depression to eating disorder recovery, they each consistently embrace those they work with and each project with kindness, empathy, creativity and a growth mindset of “how might we”. Our YAB leaders embody true systems leadership.
More photos from the event here.
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