June is National Immigrant Heritage Month! Join San Mateo County’s Office of Consumer Affairs in the Makerspace on June 14th, Wednesday, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. as we explore innovative and creative ways to celebrate the history and achievements of our immigrant communities. Decorate Epilog Laser Cutter wooden bookmarks or tell your story using heart map magnets. Learners of all ages and experience levels are welcome.
It gives us great pleasure to announce a wonderful collaboration!
The African American Community Initiative (AACI) and the Spirituality Initiative (SI) will hold a collaborative monthly meeting, in the community of East Palo Alto (in-person & via Zoom) on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 from 10:30am to 2pm.
The in-person location is at Ravenswood Family Health Network in the Juanita Duncan Conference Room (1842 Bay Road, E Palo Alto).
Lunch and refreshments will be served!
Please see the above flyer for more information and how to reserve your seat if you plan to attend in-person (seating is limited).
You will need to log in separately for each meeting if you plan to participate via Zoom. For Zoom Info, email Lee Harrison at leharrison@smcgov.org.
Both meetings will have brief presentations:
Please plan to join us, and please share this information widely in your networks!
Also join AACI and Voices of Recovery for their Juneteenth celebration on Friday, 6/16/23. More info here.
As we settle into this month of May, we recognize several celebrations that are important to us, our work, and our communities: Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Month and Mental Health Month (MHM)!
At BHRS Office of Diversity and Equity, we are working hard to increase the visibility of our AANHPI communities and destigmatize mental health. Our AANHPI communities make up over 30% of our County, and have invaluably contributed to the vibrancy of neighborhoods. From being able to taste delicious food spreads of pancit and haupia, and practicing resilient wellness remedies passed on from generation to generation, it is a special time to lift up our AANHPI communities, friends, and family members.
In that spirit, we have two EVENTS where you can honor our diversity:
You can also dig deeper into an abundance of RESOURCES to learn more at FAPAC – AAPI Resources and FYI: Weekly Health Resources for May 3, 2023 (govdelivery.com). And don’t forget to spread the word, or better yet, join us in of all our numerous SMC Mental Health Month activities which can be found at Mental Health Month – San Mateo County Health (smchealth.org)!
Beyond this month, we warmly invite you to join our Health Equity Initiatives that specifically lift up our AANHPI communities:
| Chinese Health Initiative | First Friday of the month | 1:30-3pm |
| Pacific Islander Initiative | First Tuesday of the month | 11am-1pm |
| Filipino Mental Health Initiative | Third Thursday of the month | 5-6:30pm |
Full schedule of our 9 Health Equity Initiatives can be found here!
We extend these opportunities as invitations for you to join us as we lift up our AANHPI communities and reduce the barriers to addressing mental health!
In community,
Your ODE Team
Co-written by Kayla Tolentino (she/her) & Maria Lorente-Foresti (she/her)
The San Mateo County Suicide Prevention Committee is hosting below event that is free and open to the public. Please help us spread the word about this opportunity!
MESSAGING MATTERS ANNUAL WEBINAR
Learn safe and effective messaging about suicide prevention
Date: Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Time: 1:30-3:00pm
Virtual Location: Zoom Webinar. Register here: bit.ly/2023messagingmatters
Details: Please join us for this annual webinar “Messaging Matters” to learn more about safe and effective messaging about suicide prevention. Participants will learn about responsible media reporting, how to engage the news media as partners in suicide prevention, and how to create effective suicide prevention materials and talking points. Presentation will be by subject matter expert Stan Collins, Suicide Prevention Specialist with California Mental Health Services Authority Technical Assistance Team. Flyer: View here and attached.
Please help us outreach to all members of our community, especially those who communicate publicly about suicide and suicide prevention. Examples include
🎉 As of March 27th, 2023, Teen Crisis Services, StarVista’s text line and online chat for youth and young adults 13+, will be available Monday to Friday, 4pm – 10pm PST.
📱 Teen Crisis Services can be accessed by texting (650)747–6463 or visiting their website during hours of operation.
Many of you have firsthand knowledge of challenges that adolescents may face in their academic and personal lives. We know that peer-based support can be a powerful tool in helping students feel heard, understood, and empowered.
Adolescents can chat confidentially with trained peer counselors under Crisis Center staff supervision. While mainly focused on crisis intervention and suicide prevention, teens can also talk about school stress, relationship issues, and mental health challenges. Services are free, safe, and confidential.
You can print and display the attached flyer in your office, window, or on your walls to help youth in San Mateo County know this service is available.
Thank you for your commitment to supporting the well-being of adolescents!
For more information and updates visit our website at www.sanmateocrisis.org.
On Wednesday, March 15th, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS) Office of Diversity of Equity (ODE) worked in collaboration with retired Congresswoman, Jackie Speier, and Louise Rogers, Director of San Mateo County (SMC) Health to host a virtual event for SMC Latinx mothers to identify their needs and experiences. Jackie Speier has just launched “The Jackie Speier Foundation,” therefore, this virtual event served as a means of better understanding how to better support this community. In an effort to hear the voice of San Mateo County (SMC) mothers, participants from the SMC Parent Project© and the BHRS ODE Health Ambassador Program were invited to attend.
This dialogue led to learning more about our SMC mothers’ concerns around access to services, behavioral health needs for children, economic and employment challenges, and the desire for youth support in different areas of their lives. Additionally, the participants shared thoughtful recommendations and hopes for mothers balancing many needs to provide the best life for their children. The resilience of our communities shined through, with mothers speaking about overcoming obstacles and advocating for their families. Throughout this conversation, Jackie Speier looked to better understand gaps and system barriers impacting mothers and children to access services and supports.
With much gratitude, we thank our community for joining us at this event and for sharing each of their stories with such heart and thoughtfulness. We also thank Jackie Speier for her persistence in identifying how our county can better accommodate the needs of Latinx mothers. We would also like to thank Louise Rogers for her support in making this event happen and her deep understanding of our communities and work throughout our system of care. BHRS ODE will continue to host similar events to ensure the voice of those we serve is represented in our work.
Partners and community members,
We are quickly approaching that lime green time of the year again! 💚 Every May is Mental Health Month and California’s theme this year is #Share4MH! To promote engagement across communities in California and San Mateo County, we are asking everyone to find opportunities to share throughout the month. Sharing for mental health can look like:
Check out our attached flyer to spark some other ideas! Also use our virtual background at your next virtual meeting to spark conversation.
For our full list of free and public events, ways to get involved, and mental health resources, visit SMCHealth.org/MHM.
Please share this email with your clients/consumers, colleagues, friends and community!
Socios y miembros de la comunidad,
¡Nos acercamos rápidamente a esa época verde lima del año! ¡Cada mayo es el Mes de la Salud Mental y el tema de California este año es #Share4MH! Para promover la participación en las comunidades de California y el condado de San Mateo, les pedimos a todos que encuentren oportunidades para compartir durante todo el mes. Compartir para la salud mental puede verse como:
¡Vea nuestro folleto adjunto para generar otras ideas! También use nuestro fondo virtual en su próxima reunión virtual para iniciar la conversación.
Para ver nuestra lista completa de eventos públicos y gratuitos, formas de participar y recursos de salud mental, visite SMCHealth.org/MHM.
¡Comparta este correo electrónico con sus clientes/consumidores, colegas, amigos y comunidad!
Version en Español abajo
In true collaborative fashion, members of BHRS Office of Diversity and Equity came together with the San Mateo Office of Education to offer a Spanish Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training with only a month of planning. The last Spanish YMHFA training offered was in 2018.
The eight (8) hour in person course curriculum teaches how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among adolescents ages 12 – 18. At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
The training was held over two Saturdays, February 11 and 18 with fifteen (15) individuals becoming certified as Youth Mental Health First Aiders. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Juan Cuba and Ivette Melendez who had to re-certify as Spanish YMHFA instructors in a very short time in order to teach the training.
Another Spanish YMHFA training will be offered to Parent Project graduates and Health Ambassadors by the end of June.
Here are several comments from the participants:
In community,
Charo Martinez, Maria Martinez and Twila Dependahl
De manera verdaderamente colaborativa, los miembros de la Oficina de Diversidad y Equidad de BHRS se unieron con la Oficina de Educación de San Mateo para ofrecer un curso de capacitación en Primeros Auxilios de Salud Mental de Jóvenes (PASMJ), en español, con solo un mes de planificación. La última vez que se ofreció este curso en español fue en el 2018.
Este entrenamiento presencial de ocho (8) horas enseña cómo identificar, comprender y responder a los signos de retos de salud mental y consumo de sustancias entre los adolescentes de 12 a 18 años. Al final del curso, los participantes podrán:
El entrenamiento se llevó a cabo durante dos sábados, el 11 y el 18 de febrero, y quince (15) participantes se certificaron en Primeros Auxilios de Salud Mental de Jóvenes. Nos gustaría expresar nuestro más profundo agradecimiento a Juan Cuba e Ivette Meléndez, quienes tuvieron que volver a certificarse como instructores en español de PASMJ en muy poco tiempo para poder dirigir esta capacitación.
Se ofrecerá otra capacitación de PASMJ en español a los graduados del Proyecto de Padres y Embajadores de Salud antes de fines de junio.
Aquí hay varios comentarios de los participantes:
En comunidad,
Charo Martinez, Maria Martinez y Twila Dependahl
A lot is happening at Heart & Soul throughout the month of April including their Open House on Wednesday, 4/19 from 3pm to 6pm. Click here for their full calendar.
For a second time the San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS) Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) was honored to have the opportunity to support and participate in Supervisor, David Canepa’s “Caffeinate and Conversate with Canepa” series that was held on Saturday, March 25th in Daly City.
On this occasion the discussion topic was centered on the advancement of health equity and addressing the gaps impeding some communities in attaining services. ODE Director, Dr. Maria Lorente-Foresti and Frances Lobos (ODE Community Health Planner) shared how ODE works to advance behavioral health equity in multiple ways; one is by creating space and opportunities for community members to engage, be active, and provide feedback about their needs via programs like the Health Ambassador Program, Health Equity Initiatives and Parent Project. Secondly, ODE supports BHRS to provide information & services in a culturally responsive ways, which may look like hosting trainings in our county threshold languages and working in collaboration with community partners to provide culturally responsive services and interventions. All participants were provided with information about how to obtain BHRS services and other important community resources.
In addition to ODE, attendees of the event heard about broader efforts from Lisa Tealer, Executive Director of the Bay Area Community Health Advisory Council (BACHAC), Marmi Bermudez, Senior Manager for Health Coverage Unit and Jessica Ho, Government and Community Affairs Manager at North East Medical Services (NEMS, and even an impromptu testimonial from Health Ambassador, Michael Lim, on the impact of accessing support services. All exemplifying that, as Lisa put it, “it takes a village, to support a village.”
To learn more about David Canepa’s past and upcoming events, you can visit his social media pages…
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidCanepaCA/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidcanepa?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidcanepa/?hl=en
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