Finding Connection and Calm

For older adults in Cloverdale, many of whom face isolation, language barriers, and limited access to mental health care, a new Senior Wellness Group is offering something simple but powerful: a place to connect, reflect, and be supported in their own language and community.

As part of the Healthcare Foundation’s broader initiative to expand access to culturally responsive mental health services for underserved older adults in Cloverdale, a new six-week Senior Wellness Group at La Familia Sana is already making a meaningful impact. Supported by a grant from Kaiser Permanente and the East Bay Community Foundation, the program is creating space for connection, support, and access to critical resources for older adults. 

The need for such services is acute, according to La Familia Sana’s Luis Gutierrez, who oversees the program.

“We need to be reducing social isolation in our senior population,” he says, “and ensuring access to vital resources such as transportation, the relative lack of which in Cloverdale only compounds that isolation. There’s also overcoming financial barriers to resources and services, which is crucial for a population that is trying to sustain itself amid high and rising costs on a fixed low income.”

A longtime Cloverdale resident, Gutierrez recently transitioned from a career in financial and insurance services to serve as La Familia Sana’s Partnerships & Programs Manager, a role that reflects a deep personal commitment. “This is the community that raised me,” he said. “To be able to support providing services to our senior population and the entire community in a professional capacity, that motivates and moves me.”

“We’re learning firsthand from our community members what it is that they need.”

Luis Gutierrez, La Familia Sana

Significantly, La Familia Sana develops its programs through ongoing dialogue with community members themselves. The Senior Wellness Group not only provides immediate support to its participants, but also offers valuable insight into the challenges seniors face and the resources they need to live healthier, more fulfilling lives. Participants play an active role in shaping the organization’s priorities.

“Those issues, such as a lack of transportation options, are issues that have arisen in conversations with community members themselves, including through the Senior Wellness Group,” affirms Gutierrez. “We’re learning firsthand from our community members what it is that they need.”

The Senior Wellness Group is held by two co-facilitators, made available through On the Margins, a longtime partner of La Familia Sana. One of these facilitators, whom we spoke to just last year, Javi Cabrera-Rosales, also works with seniors in the Cloverdale ECO Group.

The other facilitator, Bianca Pulido, brings both professional expertise and a strong personal connection to the Cloverdale community.

“La Familia Sana was my first job-site assignment,” Pulido explains. “When the chance to co-facilitate the Senior Wellness Group arose, I loved the idea of a group healing space for the Spanish-speaking older adult community in Cloverdale and was honored to work alongside Javi to provide this offering.”

A bilingual Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and Associate Professional Clinical Counselor—as well as a past recipient of the Healthcare Foundation’s Mental Health Talent Pipeline scholarship—Pulido has worked with the Cloverdale community for nearly four years. She now co-leads the support group, serving a group of 12 monolingual Spanish-speaking older adults in a confidential, supportive setting.

“We’ve been providing a healing support group circle,” Pulido says. “Here, what we’re focusing our attention on is mindfulness and wellness practices.” Participants have been introduced to grounding techniques and reflective practices—often for the first time—that help them slow down, manage stress, and process life experiences in new ways.

The impact has been immediate. During weekly check-ins, participants frequently begin by expressing gratitude: “I’m grateful for this space,” or “I’m happy to share space with you all.” In a community where linguistically appropriate mental health services are limited, simply having a space to connect and be heard is transformative.

Pulido emphasizes that the program meets multiple needs at once: “One is simply receiving Spanish-language mental health services,” she says. “Another is the centering of community connection… and healing overall.” Conversations often touch on caregiving, aging, grief, and intergenerational experiences, helping participants reflect on how their past shapes how they show up today.

Just as important is what happens beyond the sessions. Participants are building relationships and supporting one another outside the group, creating a sense of unity that extends into the broader community. “There is a strong sense of unity and togetherness in how they show up for one another, with a desire to advocate for future progress within their own community,” Pulido notes.

Interest in the program has already exceeded capacity, underscoring both its success and the ongoing need. As Pulido puts it, “We’re seeing that there is a real need.” A six-week program like this is generally easy for people to schedule and commit to, and it strengthens social bonds while providing useful tools and insights. She adds that, particularly given long wait times for individual therapy, “it’s a way to serve the population more quickly.”

“We are very eager to continue this program,” says Gutierrez. “We’ve seen the impact that it’s had and we will continue seeking funding for it, because we fully believe in the work that it’s doing and can do across our community.”