Advocate for the Future | Abogando por el Futuro

Hello Friends,

As an organization dedicated to access to healthcare and mental healthcare for all, democracy is at the forefront of our minds. We know that unequal and unjust distribution of resources directly impacts the health outcomes of our most vulnerable community members here in northern Sonoma County. We also know that behind every social condition that creates access barriers are political decisions that abate or reinforce it.

That’s why, as nonprofits and foundations, we must be focused on civic engagement and ensuring a multicultural democratic society. As I think about the Healthcare Foundation’s investments in and programs for community health and wellbeing, I recognize that they are not separable from a broadening of civic participation and democratic culture.

This month begins our Mental Health Talent Pipeline campaign. In this issue you will read inspiring stories and gain insight into the purpose and history of our Mental Health Talent Pipeline (MHTP) program. First, from Dean Shabnam Koirala-Azad of USF, who along with USF professor Dra. Daniela Domínguez has been our stalwart partner in the MHTP program from the beginning.

And, next, from two outstanding USF graduate students in counseling psychology — including MHTP scholarship recipient Jennifer Oseguera Chavez — who are about to embark on their third-year traineeship at Humanidad in Cloverdale as part of our two-year Bicultural Clinical Training Program initiative.

Finally, we are very pleased to introduce this month our three latest Mental Health Talent Pipeline scholarship recipients. I’m sure you’ll join us in saying to all three, Welcome!

I am excited for you to learn why this homegrown program is gaining Bay Area–wide attention. You may wonder how higher education, and particularly how the MHTP program, plays a role in democracy. The answer is, in every way.

Higher education is a public good that strengthens the economy and creates informed, critical thinkers who can take an active role in advocacy and civic engagement. The Mental Health Talent Pipeline program’s reach extends even further as it provides these benefits to students who, due to political determinants of health, may not otherwise have the ability to pursue them.

Furthermore, the Pipeline directs high quality, culturally responsive care into the most marginalized communities, creating a systemic ripple effect. As people heal and feel safe to acclimate into their communities, their own civic and community engagement grows. From the student to the client, everyone’s ability to take an active role in democracy increases.

In a season when we are all encouraged to think about the meaning and importance of democracy, I feel both proud and motivated in asking for your support of our Mental Health Talent Pipeline program. Your support now and throughout the year is what drives change, and is more crucial than ever.

As always, I welcome a one-on-one coffee or lunch date to get to know you better and learn about your vision for northern Sonoma County.

In Community,

Amy Ramirez
Executive Director

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Five Years of the Mental Health Talent Pipeline

A conversation with USF’s Dean Shabnam Koirala-Azad

The Healthcare Foundation’s Mental Health Talent Pipeline (MHTP) scholarship program, launched in 2018 in partnership with the University of San Francisco and its Santa Rosa branch, aims to boost the number of bilingual and bicultural mental health professionals available to serve children, youth, and families in northern Sonoma County lacking such bilingual and bicultural services.

After a successful pilot year, the partnership and MHTP expanded to fully cover tuition for graduate students, who have averaged three new participants annually since 2019. To date, MHTP has supported 24 students, benefiting about 3,500 residents with mental health services.

In closing the accessibility gap in bilingual and bicultural mental health services for Latine residents of northern Sonoma County — and helping to clear a path for tomorrow’s community leaders by supporting a new generation of aspiring mental health professionals — MHTP advances the Healthcare Foundation’s strategic focus on mental health as well as USF’s vision of directly serving the communities where it has its programs.

To help us mark MHTP’s five-year milestone, we spoke with Shabnam Koirala-Azad, Dean of the School of Education at USF. A former faculty member in International and Multicultural Education, she has been a key partner in the program’s growth since its inception.

Full Article (5 min read)

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Spotlight on the Bicultural Clinical Training Program

A conversation with incoming Humanidad clinical trainees Citlaly Martinez and Jennifer Oseguera Chavez

The Healthcare Foundation received funding from Kaiser Permanente in 2023 to launch a Bicultural Clinical Training Program, a two-pronged initiative in collaboration with Humanidad Therapy & Education Services and On the Margins that aims to increase access to quality bilingual and bicultural mental health services to Latine communities by strengthening the local pipeline of bilingual, bicultural mental health practitioners. 

As part of that initiative, Santa Rosa–based Humanidad has extended its services to underserved residents of Cloverdale through two paid traineeships per year for two years. As a crucial aspect of this effort, the Humanidad traineeships offer graduate student trainees professional supervision by a bilingual, bicultural Clinical Supervisor—a rare opportunity designed to deepen the culturally responsive nature of the education and practice of the bilingual graduate student trainees.

The second year of the Humanidad traineeship includes Mental Health Talent Pipeline scholarship awardee Jennifer Oseguera Chavez as well as fellow USF third-year graduate student Citlaly Martinez, who has also worked at Humanidad since 2021. Both students are natives of Santa Rosa.

With their traineeships set to begin on August 1, we spoke with Citlaly and Jennifer about what draws them to Humanidad for their final “practicum” year in the USF graduate program and as future therapists serving residents of northern Sonoma County.

Full Article (3.5 min read)

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Welcome to our 2024 Mental Health Talent Pipeline scholarship awardees!

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BECOME A MENTAL HEALTH TALENT PIPELINE PARTNER

In celebration of the Mental Health Talent Pipeline’s fifth anniversary, initial “seed money” investor Mark Freed along with Gene and Suzanne Valla are generously matching all donations to the MHTP this year up to $50,000.

July is BIPOC (Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color) Mental Health Awareness Month. We invite you to join us in supporting a pipeline of bicultural/bilingual mental health providers to serve northern Sonoma County’s Latine residents at a time of extraordinary need.

You can easily make your matched gift by clicking Donate or by making a request through your Donor Advised Fund. Whether your gift is $50, $500 or $5,000, it will be matched 1:1.

24

MHTP students to date

950+

bilingual/bicultural clients served annually