A Conversation with New Board Member Zenia Lemos Horning

The Healthcare Foundation is proud to welcome Zenia Lemos Horning, M.Ed., NCSP, LEP, ABSNP, to its Board of Directors. Zenia brings over 25 years of experience as a bilingual and bicultural school psychologist and diplomate in school neuropsychology. She currently serves as the lead psychologist and program specialist at Healdsburg Unified School District, where she has been instrumental in integrating mental health services across campuses and fostering partnerships with local nonprofits to support students and families. Zenia’s dedication to culturally responsive care and her deep understanding of the mental health challenges facing youth in our region make her an invaluable addition to the Healthcare Foundation’s leadership, helping the organization advance health equity and expand access to mental health services in northern Sonoma County.

Zenia, who started her Board service in January, had previously volunteered on the Board’s Programs Committee. We first spoke with her last year, during her time on the Programs Committee, on the occasion of 2024’s Mental Health Awareness Month. This year seemed a fitting occasion to again ask her for her perspective on the local mental health landscape, as well as about her new vantage as a member of the Board.

What are you seeing today in the Healdsburg Unified School District, in terms of students and mental health, compared with last year?

We’re definitely seeing added stress and unease this year, particularly since January. We work very hard to be welcoming to all families, and after Covid we worked hard to invite families back on campus. The current atmosphere has been a barrier to that. I see that with families in the Healdsburg school district. Also where my own children go to school, in another school district—some parents there have stopped picking up their kids after school and are having older siblings go instead because they’re afraid of immigration issues. That puts added stress onto the children. When parents are stressed out, it affects the kids, which in turn affects their attention in school, their academics and socialization.

Last fall we spoke with Kim Harris, Coordinator of the new Wellness Center at Healdsburg High, which had gotten off to a great start. How is that going?

Kim and Christina Valencia, the intake coordinator, have done a fabulous job making the Wellness Center a safe, bilingual space where students can access mental health services and wellness support during school hours. I’m happy to report that the students are loving this resource and are utilizing it. Because family involvement is so crucial in promoting student wellbeing, Kim and Christina have also been offering excellent opportunities for parents and families, bringing in various professionals to give talks. The parent component isn’t as visited as we would like currently, but we are hopeful it will grow.

“It’s wonderful to see real networking among our local clinics and nonprofits. Their collective voice has gotten louder and they’ve grown more empowered to provide these services and community outreach to our families.”

Zenia Lemos Horning

More generally, what models and approaches do you see as working well in supporting the mental health of the region’s children, youth, and families?

What I have seen is that smaller organizations are feeling more empowered, and feeling they have more support, to expand services and resources to the community, making mental health services more accessible to families. Corazón Healdsburg, for instance, has various programs supporting mental health, including a partnership with Humanidad Therapy & Education Services to provide bilingual, bicultural therapy sessions, and one with Side By Side to provide group counseling for both adults and teenagers. I believe we’re seeing more people accessing such services as a result of these partnerships and community outreach. I also see a lot more referrals between agencies, to help overcome long waiting lists or other obstacles, for example transportation issues, and make sure people get the support they need. This kind of grassroots activity is encouraging and powerful. I think it speaks to the sense people have that we can’t rely on somebody bigger than us to do this much-needed work for us. If it’s going to get done, we’ve got to do it ourselves, and we’re more effective operating together. It’s wonderful to see real networking among our local clinics and nonprofits. Their collective voice has gotten louder and they’ve grown more empowered to provide these services and community outreach to our families.

Of course, part of the Healthcare Foundation’s mission is to encourage just that kind of coordination and collaboration across the region. Now that you’re on the Board, what do you see the Healthcare Foundation bringing to that effort?

Before I was on the Board, and even when I was serving on the Board’s Programs Committee, I tended to think of the Healthcare Foundation in terms of the Mental Health Talent Pipeline, and the truly impactful scholarships it provides. Now, as I’m looking at the strategic plan and the four programmatic pillars, I’m seeing that we do so much more. I’m seeing the grassroots activity being encouraged, for example, in our capacity-building grants. These are helping smaller organizations build their infrastructure or skill sets (around Medi-Cal billing, for example) to thrive in their work and continue being a part of the community, a resource people can rely on for years to come. I’m also seeing it in the healthcare advocacy component, and partnerships with bigger organizations that help us direct grants to these smaller organizations where and when they need them most.

How do you describe this unique role that the Healthcare Foundation plays in the local system of care?

It’s taken me a beat to absorb it fully because it is varied and specific. I’ve been attending the Board meetings, reading the Board packets, conversing with fellow Board members and staff and community partners, and diving into our own website, which has a wealth of information on it, as well as the brochures and mailers — all of this has given me a stronger basis to understand that role better. We do so much! But it’s all directed to strengthening our region’s system of care. It goes beyond directing a grant to a particular nonprofit. It involves understanding the lay of the land, and what all the region’s agencies could benefit from through a certain amount of system-wide strategy, networking and leveraging of resources. The Healthcare Foundation’s current CalAIM (Medi-Cal billing system) initiative is a great example of this. And I haven’t even touched on the wellness center initiative that has taken root in three of our region’s communities, a great example of the community-led solutions we are also helping to generate and support. All of it, basically, so that people can get what they need, so that everyone in northern Sonoma County enjoys the highest potential for health and wellbeing.