Category Archives: Parent Project

BHRS ODE Builds Community Connections at “Caffeinate and Conversate with Canepa”

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On Saturday, February 18th, San Mateo County Supervisor, David Canepa, hosted a “Caffeinate and Conversate with Canepa” event in Daly City, creating a space for a community conversation on mental health. Following the Half Moon Bay shooting and the recent storms in the Bay Area, it was great having the opportunity to learn from fellow mental health providers and advocates on accessing and improving mental health resources within San Mateo County.  

San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS) Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) Director, Dr. Maria Lorente-Foresti and Program Coordinator, Nicoletta Kelleher had the honor of presenting about BHRS services and resources. The presentation focused on Prevention and Early Intervention programs, youth and adult Mental Health First Aid, Workforce Education Trainings, Health Equity Initiatives and more. Throughout the presentation, attendees were referred to BHRS ODE’s program brochures and resources in order to ensure community members could easily access our services. The event also included contributions and resources from valued partners including Christi Morales-Kumasawa and Stephanie Garma Balon from KAPWA Kultural Center and Café, Virginia Chang Kiraly from National Alliance and Mental Illness (NAMI), and Fan Li from North East Medical Services (NEMS).

BHRS ODE is extremely appreciative to have had the opportunity to inform our community of our programs and services. We are grateful to Supervisor David Canepa and his team for inviting us to speak at this event, as well as creating a space for the community to voice their concerns and struggles following the recent traumatic events within our county. We look forward to participating in more events to help build community connections and the opportunity to amplify the voices of our underserved communities in order to make accessing behavioral health services more equitable and inclusive for all. 

To learn more about David Canepa’s past and upcoming events, visit his social media pages:

Written by Nicoletta Kelleher (she/her), BHRS’ Office of Diversity & Equity

Parent Project Hosts First In-Person Class Since Spring 2020!

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The Parent Project Spring 2023 semester is officially here! As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Parent Project classes have been strictly virtual for the past three years. For this reason, we are excited to be transitioning back into in-person classes. This semester, our first in-person class is facilitated by Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center’s (PCRC), Evelia Chairez, alongside the Community Alliance to Revitalize Our Neighborhoods’ (CARON), Jose Luis Aguirre. Our first class was quite the success as we had numerous parents and caregivers join us at the Redwood City Library for our first in-person Spanish class since Spring of 2020. Our second in-person class is hosted by StarVista’s, Eddy Caldera and Mario Vargas, who are hosting another in-person Spanish class at Fiesta Gardens International school.

For virtual classes, we have one virtual Spanish class being hosted by StarVista’s Lilia Quezada, alongside Ara Vazquez and Gaby Berber. Our virtual English class is hosted by Peninsula Conflict Resolution’s Center and the Pacific Islander Initiative’s co-chair, Brittany Tonga.  

“I am very happy to have the Parent Project classes in person again. It is very motivating for me to see that parents want to learn more tools to educate their children. Each week they return with new experiences and feedback on how they are applying what they learn in the classroom at home. I have always said that today’s parents have a harder job to do, since they were educated in an analog world and now they have to educate in a digital era, often unknown to them. The fact that they attend the classes every week speaks volumes about their role as parents who always want to be better for their kids.” 

Jose Luis Aguirre, Parent Project Facilitator

[En Español]

“Estoy muy feliz de tener nuevamente las clases del Proyecto de Padres en persona. Es muy motivador para mi ver que los padres quieren aprender más herramientas para educar a sus hijos. Cada semana regresan con nuevas experiencias y comentarios de cómo están aplicando en casa lo que aprenden en el salón de clase. Siempre he dicho que a los padres de hoy en día les toca una labor más fuerte, pues ellos fueron educados en un mundo análogo y ahora tienen que educar en un mundo digital, en muchas ocasiones desconocido para ellos. El hecho de que asistan cada semana a su clase habla muy bien de su papel como padres que siempre quieren lo mejor para sus hijos.   

Jose Luis Aguirre, Facilitador del Proyecto de Padres 

Thus far, this semester has allowed us to rebuild connections with our community members. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are aware that there are added obstacles associated with rebuilding familial relationships. For this reason, we are implementing practices to better assist parents in an era that has been more anxiety inducing for both parents and children. ODE’s Community Program Specialist, Charo Martinez, will be working in collaboration with her fellow Health Ambassadors to educate parents and caregivers on the Health Ambassador Program. We are beyond thankful for the outstanding contributions of our partners Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center and StarVista. We are looking forward to what the future of the Parent Project has in store!  

For more information on the Parent Project, please visit: https://www.smchealth.org/post/parent-project-r 

For any Parent Project related questions or concerns, please reach me via my email: Nkelleher@smcgov.org  

Written by Nicoletta Kelleher (she/her)
BHRS’ Office of Diversity and Equity

Parent Project Classes are Here / Clases de Parent Project ya están Disponibles

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Para la traducción al español, siga hasta la parte de abajo.  

The Spring 2023 Parent Project schedule is officially here! We are thrilled to announce that we will be hosting two of our Parent Project Spanish classes in-person this semester. I have attached the individual flyers for each class, as well as the All Class Flyer which provides the class start dates with the corresponding languages and registration contacts.  

The All Class Flyer is also featured on our San Mateo County Health Parent Project Website which you can visit using this link https://www.smchealth.org/post/parent-project-r  

For any questions pertaining to the Parent Project class, please contact me via my email.  

Nicoletta Kelleher  (she/her/ella)
Parent Project Program Coordinator  
Nkelleher@smcgov.org 

We look forward to seeing you all there!  

El calendario del Proyecto de Padres para la Primavera 2023 está oficialmente aquí! Es nuestro gran placer anunciar que organizaremos dos de nuestras clases en español del Proyecto de Padres, en persona este semestre. He incluído los volantes individuales para cada clase, así como el volante para Todas las Clases que proporciona las fechas de inicio de cada serie, con los idiomas correspondientes y los contactos para registrarse. 

El volante para Todas las Clases también aparece en nuestro sitio web del Proyecto de Padres, Salud del Condado de San Mateo, que puede visitar usando este enlace: https://www.smchealth.org/post/parent-project-r 

Para cualquier pregunta relacionada con la clase del Proyecto de Padres, comuníquese conmigo a través de mi correo electrónico. 

Nicoletta Kelleher (she/her/ella)
Coordinador del Programa de Proyecto de Padres 
Nkelleher@smcgov.org 

English One PagerDownload
Spanish One PagerDownload
Parent-Project-All-class-flyer-S2023-EnglishDownload
Parent-Project-All-class-flyer-S2023-SpanishDownload
PP-Flyer-English-Thursday-Class-Spring-23Download
PP-Flyer-English-Tuesday-Class-Spring-23Download
PP-Flyer-Spanish-Thursday-Class-Spring-23Download
PP-Flyer-Spanish-Tuesday-Class-Spring-23Download

Parent Project Fall 2022 Schedule

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The Parent Project® is continuing this coming Fall with four virtual classes. Please share with your networks and communities.

The Parent Project® is a free, 14-week course that is offered in English and Spanish to anyone who cares for a child or adolescent. The classes meet for three hours each week. Parents learn parenting skills and get information about resources and other support available in their communities. Parents/caregivers learn and practice skills such as:

  • appropriate ways to discipline
  • preventing or stopping alcohol, drug and tobacco use
  • improving communication skills
  • improving grades and school attendance

Spanish All Class Flyer
English All Class Flyer

For more information, visit SMCHealth.org/ParentProject.

Happy AAPI Heritage Month: Updates from the Pacific Islander Initiative

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PII Co-Chair, Brittany Afu

This year, BHRS ODE’s Health Equity Initiative, Pacific Islander Initiative (PII) welcomes a returning co-chair, Brittany Afu, who is currently working with long-time partner, Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center. Luci Latu and Brittany have been focusing on rebuilding past partnerships and cultivating new ones to strengthen PII’s membership base.

Some of the initiative’s focus this year has been on COVID outreach – raising awareness around COVID testing, vaccines and linking families to COVID relief programs and services. Other focuses include outreaching for partner events and community classes, sharing information about services and completing community presentations to raise awareness on critical issues affecting the PII community.

Recently, the PII co-chairs presented to a class at UC Berkeley discussing Pacific Islander health disparities and how the initiative and other partnering agencies are developing strategies to address community needs. It is an ongoing effort, and we hope to make community impacts by filling future Parent Project courses, hosting Mental Health First Aid trainings and getting more families connected to needed care.

Blog written by Brittany Afu
Co-Chair of Pacific Islander Initiative of San Mateo County, 

To learn more about Pacific Islander Initiative and other health equity initiatives, visit SMCHealth.org/HEI.

The Health Equity Initiatives are funded through BHRS’ Office of Diversity and Equity. For more information click here.

To learn more about Pacific Islander Initiative, visit smchealth.org/pacific-islander-initiative.

Parent Project Spring 2021 All Class Flyer

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The Parent Project® is a free, 12-week course that is offered in English and Spanish to anyone who cares for a child or adolescent. The classes meet for three hours each week. Parents learn parenting skills and get information about resources and other support available in their communities. Parents/caregivers learn and practice skills such as:

  • appropriate ways to discipline
  • preventing or stopping alcohol, drug and tobacco use
  • improving communication skills
  • improving grades and school attendance

For more information about Parent Project visit smchealth.org/ParentProject.

Parent-Project-All-class-flyer-Sp2021-EnglishDownload
Parent-Project-All-class-flyer-Sp2021-SpanishDownload

Two Parent Project Spring 2021 Courses Starting 2/23 & 2/24

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We are excited to share two of our confirmed Parent Project courses for Spring 2021. Facilitated by StarVista, both courses will be offered in Spanish and virtually. Please see the attached flyers for more information about schedule and how to register. Contact Kristie Lui at kflui@smcgov.org for any questions.

For more information about the Parent Project, please visit smchealth.org/ParentProject.

PP SP21 – Start date 2/23 Eng FlyerDownload
PP SP21 – Start date 2/23 Sp FlyerDownload
PP SP21 – Start date 2/24 Eng FlyerDownload
PP SP21 – Start date 2/24 Sp FlyerDownload

Congratulations to our Virtual Parent Project Fall ’20 Graduates!

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Congratulations to another successful virtual graduation for our Parent Project graduates! The Office of Diversity and Equity would like to thank our partners at StarVista and Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center for successfully facilitating the program virtually and engaging our 30+ participants.

For more information about the Parent Project visit our website here.

Start date 11/5 – Parent Project Spanish Class

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Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center will be hosting a Spanish Parent Project class starting on Thursday, November 5th from 6pm to 8pm. The class will be held weekly for 12 weeks and will allow registration up till week 3. If you are interested in participating in this parenting course, please contact Evelia Chairez at echairez@pcrcweb.org or call (650) 513- 0330 x313.

For more information about the Parent Project, please visit smchealth.org/ParentProject.

Parent Project Fall 2020 All Class FLyer | Eng & Sp

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Parent-Project-All-class-flyer-EngDownload
Parent-Project-All-class-flyer-SpaDownload

The Parent Project® is a free, 14-week course that is offered in English and Spanish to anyone who cares for a child or adolescent. The classes meet for three hours each week. Parents learn parenting skills and get information about resources and other support available in their communities. While we are still currently confirming our All-Class flyer, we wanted to share our first two confirmed classes starting in September. All classes are virtual and will take place via Zoom.

For more information about the Parent Project, please contact Kristie Lui at kflui@smcgov.org or visit SMChealth.org/ParentProject.

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