December 10: Human Rights Day  

December 10th is Human Rights Day, adopted by the UN in 1948. It promotes that everyone is entitled to human rights, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political, national or social origin, property, birth, or another identifying factor. This year’s theme relates to equality, and that “all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights." The focus is on addressing discrimination against women, LGBTQ+ people, BIPOC people, migrants, and people with disabilities.  

The UN has acknowledged that mental health is an important human right. An OHCHR Report found that globally:  

  • Mental health conditions will affect one in four people throughout their lifetime.

  • Globally, mental health does not enjoy parity with physical health in budgeting, medical education, or practice.

  • Stigma is a significant determinant of quality of care and access to the full range of services required by persons with mental health conditions.

  • Almost two-thirds of persons with mental health conditions will not seek treatment for their condition.

  • Poor mental health is a predisposing factor for physical health problems.

  • Persons with mental health conditions have a much-reduced life expectancy compared with the general population, with an estimated drop in life expectancy of 20 years for men and 15 years for women.

At Caminar, we are committed to responding to the urgent behavioral health needs of underserved populations in our communities. We believe that inequity will not go away without access to behavioral health care for all. 

December 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities

December 3rd is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The day was first observed in 1992 by the UN to promote awareness of the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. The UN defines a disability as condition or function judged to be significantly impaired relative to the usual standard of an individual of their group. 

According to the CDC, one in four adults in the United States—61 million people—have a disability. 

In 2018, the CDC found that an estimated 17.4 million (32.9%) adults with disabilities experienced frequent mental distress (which is defined as 14 or more reported mentally unhealthy days in the past 30 days). 

NAMI explained some of the significant barriers to mental health care for persons with disabilities, such as: 

  • Lack of integrated care 

  • Poverty and unemployment 

  • Cost 

  • Communication barriers 

Caminar is committed to supporting persons with disabilities through our various services and programs.  

Resources  

Caminar Jobs Plus  

Caminar Supported Education  

American Association of People with Disabilities 

CDC Disability & Health Information 

Financial Assistance and Support Services for People with Disabilities    

Thanks to you, there’s hope! #GivingTuesday

Today is #GivingTuesday, a day of global generosity and giving. We invite you to join this movement and support your local community today!

The level of depression, anxiety, and substance use in the Bay Area (and around the world) increased significantly during the pandemic. People are hurting. But a future filled with hope is possible because of you!

You can help reduce the detrimental effects of COVID-19 and other trauma by donating today to ensure behavioral health care is available to all who need it. Caminar's  Behavioral Health Equity Fund enables us to continue our response to the urgent needs of the Bay Area’s most at-risk youth, families, and individuals. And we can’t do it without you! 

Thank you for your generosity and compassion. Best wishes for a healthy and safe holiday season. 

Transgender Day of Remembrance: 11.20.21

This Saturday, November 20th, is Transgender Day of Remembrance. Caminar honors this day to remember the lives lost due to transphobia.  

According to Glaad, “The 2014 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and HIV-affected Hate Violence Report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects shows that of the victims murdered, 80% were people of color, 55% were transgender women, and 50% were transgender women of color.” 

NAMI has conducted research and found that:  

  • Transgender individuals are nearly four times as likely as cisgender individuals (people whose gender identity corresponds with their birth sex) individuals to experience a mental health condition. 

  • Transgender youth face further disparities as they are twice as likely to experience depressive symptoms, seriously consider suicide, and attempt suicide compared to cisgender lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning youth. 

  • Transgender individuals are almost four times as likely as cisgender individuals to experience a substance use disorder. 

  • 40% of transgender adults have attempted suicide in their lifetime, compared to less than 5% of the general U.S. population. 

We invite you to learn more about how to support the transgender community or seek support for yourself or a loved one through these resources: 

October: Honoring LGBTQ History Month

October is LGBTQ History Month, which celebrates the achievements and heroes of the community. It was founded in 1994 by Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher to promote LGBTQ studies across the education system and throughout the US. We want to share a few resources and articles focused on mental wellness for the LGBTQ community.   

According to NAMI, “LGB adults are more than twice as likely as heterosexual adults to experience a mental health condition. Transgender individuals are nearly four times as likely as cisgender individuals (people whose gender identity corresponds with their birth sex) individuals to experience a mental health condition.” 

Some common challenges that the LGBTQ community face are:  

  • Coming out  

  • Rejection  

  • Trauma 

  • Substance use 

  • Homelessness 

  • Suicide 

  • Inadequate mental health care  

The Trevor Project conducted a national survey on LGBTQ Youth in 2021 and found these statistics:  

  • 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth 

  • 70% of LGBTQ youth stated that their mental health was "poor" most of the time or always during COVID-19. 

  • Half of all LGBTQ youth of color reported discrimination based on their race/ethnicity in the past year, including 67% of Black LGBTQ youth and 60% of Asian/Pacific Islander LGBTQ youth. 

  • Transgender and nonbinary youth who reported having pronouns respected by all of the people they lived with attempted suicide at half the rate of those who did not have their pronouns respected by anyone with whom they lived. 


While LGBTQ History Month is coming to an end, Caminar is committed to addressing these community-specific health disparities in an affirming and supportive way.  

RESOURCES

LGBTQ Youth Space, A Caminar Program 

LGBTQ Wellness, A Caminar Program   

SF LGBT Center  

GLAAD Resource List  

Trevor Project Resources  

Sharing pronouns  

LGBTQ CRISIS/SUICIDE PREVENTION RESOURCES 

Transgender Community 

  • Trans Lifeline - 877-565-8860 

All Ages 

  • GLBT National Hotline - 1-888-843-4564 

LGBTQ Youth 

  • LGBT National Youth Talkline - 1-800-246-7743 

  • TrevorLifeline - 1-866-488-7386 

  • TrevorText - Text START to 678-678 

  • The Steve Fund Crisis Textline* - Text STEVE to 741741 

LGBTQ Adults 

  • Lifeline* - 1-800-273-8255 

  • Crisis Text Line* - Text HOME to 741741 

Highlighting our LGBTQ Programs

The LGBTQ Youth Space, a Caminar program, is a community drop-in center and mental health program for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and ally youth and young adults ages 13-25 who live in Santa Clara County. Our space is open 3pm-9pm Monday through Friday.

Our staff offers a safe and confidential space with support groups, art workshops, activism and leadership opportunities, movie nights, field trips, volunteer opportunities, free snacks, internet access, video games, safe sex supplies/condoms, and connections to any resources you might need. Please learn more at youthspace.org.

LGBTQ Wellness, a Caminar program, was created in 2015 as a community outreach and support program intended to uplift the mental health of LGBTQ community members and their allies. The program provides community outreach, mental health education, and training, and engages in mental health advocacy and policy work to encourage the support and holistic wellness of the LGBTQ community.

LGBTQ Wellness envisions a diverse, multigenerational LGBTQ community in Santa Clara County that is strengthened by an affirmative culture of wellness.

Learn more at lqbtqwell.org.

Caminar values diversity. People of all races, ethnicities, countries of origin, faith, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities are welcome here.

Caminar's Project Ninety Benefits from Housing Industry Foundation Grant

HIF blog.png

Caminar is grateful to be a recent — and repeat — beneficiary of HIF's latest community-based renovation project grant.  

HIF creates direct and immediate impact with a focus on homelessness prevention for families in need through emergency financial support, access to affordable housing, and the renovation of community shelters and transitional living homes. 

HIF engaged American Asphalt to complete a renovation of Project Ninety's San Mateo recovery residence driveway, patio, and pathway. The market value of this project was in excess of $14,000 at no cost to Caminar and Project Ninety, keeping valuable resources focused on assisting individuals in Project Nintey's substance use treatment program.

Jim Buckner, Project Ninety's executive director, shared that clients living in this housing site are pleased with the upgrades and have committed to providing ongoing site maintenance.   

We are grateful for the partnership with HIF, which allows us to enhance the living conditions for clients in our programs. Please enjoy the project before and after photos.

Social Determinants of Health and Behavioral Health Outcomes

Image via CDC

Image via CDC

Here at Caminar, we believe that positive behavioral health outcomes occur when a person is supported in all their basic needs and when social determinants of health are addressed.

A recent opinion piece in Newsweek, “Mental Health Doesn't Evolve in a Vacuum. Can Mental Illness be Prevented?” - written by the President of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Vivian Pender - shares and expands upon this view:

The American Psychiatric Association is studying the constellation of factors that impact mental health. These are known as the social determinants of mental health that are focused on root causes with an eye to prevention. This framework strongly suggests a downstream link between a person’s lived experience—determined by social, economic, environmental and structural factors—that contribute to mental health outcomes for communities. Authorities across the academic spectrum agree.

We invite you to read this opinion piece, which may help explain the importance of Caminar’s work and Caminar’s Behavioral Health Equity Fund.

October 10 is World Mental Health Day

WHO_WMHD_high_1920px.jpg

This year’s World Mental Health Day theme is 'Mental Health in an Unequal World,' which highlights the critical need to focus on all aspects of health, not just physical health, especially now while we are still experiencing COVID-19 and its negative impact.

According to the World Health Organization,

On World Mental Health Day, 10 October, it will have been more than 18 months since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In some countries, life is returning to some semblance of normality; in others, rates of transmission and hospital admissions remain high, disrupting the lives of families and communities.

In all countries, the pandemic has had a major impact on people’s mental health. Some groups, including health and other frontline workers, students, people living alone, and those with pre-existing mental health conditions, have been particularly affected.  At the same time, a WHO survey conducted in mid-2020 clearly showed that services for mental, neurological and substance use disorders had been significantly disrupted during the pandemic.

Yet there is some cause for optimism. During the World Health Assembly in May 2021, governments from around the world recognized the need to scale up quality mental health services at all levels and endorsed WHO’s Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030, including the Plan’s updated implementation options and indicators for measuring progress.

In the news: Jail is no place for the mentally ill, Santa Clara County sheriff says

sj spotlight.png

Our Blackbird House Peer Respite program is a voluntary, short-term, peer-run service that provides non-clinical crisis support to help people find new understanding and ways to move forward with their recovery. This innovative model has been effective in other parts of the country as a way to avoid unnecessary hospitalizations and empower people to manage their mental health conditions.

Blackbird House is the first peer-run respite program for adults in Santa Clara County, and it was recently mentioned in a San Jose Spotlight article, Jail is no place for the mentally ill, Santa Clara County sheriff says. The article, referring to Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, states: “She also referenced the county’s Blackbird House, a voluntary peer-run program that gives temporary housing and non-clinical crisis support to people who might otherwise end up in a psychiatric hold—or in jail.”

We invite you to read the entire San Jose Spotlight story here.

Jen Finds Heart and Home at Blackbird House

Jen_BBH_2.jpg

By Stefani Werntz, MFT, Director of Positive Solutions, Caminar’s Family & Children Services of Silicon Valley division

When I was initially asked to take over as director for Blackbird House earlier this year, I was both excited and apprehensive. I had extensive experience in working with diverse populations in both crisis and inpatient settings; however, Blackbird House was something completely new. While the concept of a peer-run home where people could come and seek safety and community shouldn’t seem far-fetched, it didn’t line up with the ‘rules,’ and I found myself pondering what that would look, feel and be like.

Then I met Jen, a regular guest at Blackbird House.

She greeted me with a warm smile the first day that I came to tour the house. She was so at ease that she could have easily been mistaken as staff. She exuded a warmth and a type of gentle strength that was both purposeful and vulnerable, and I immediately understood exactly what Blackbird House stood for.

“The staff here are all so supportive and welcoming,” said Jennifer Hulsing, who has been coming to Blackbird House shortly after it opened in December of 2018. “They ask me questions, and they take an interest in me, how I feel and what I like. I feel truly cared for and I hold them in such high regard.”

Originally from Minneapolis, Jen grew up with successful parents who traveled and worked frequently, which left her often alone. At 15 she began modeling, landing one of her first jobs with Target. After working in the industry through her twenties, she eventually found her way to California.

“I never felt like the prettiest girl. But I felt a part of something and like people could relate to me.”

Being a teenage girl comes with so many stressors, particularly in the fashion world, and Jen struggled with anorexia and bulimia as a girl. She went on to share how having low self-esteem can really affect a young girl into womanhood.

“I moved out here and I got into an abusive relationship and things just kind of spiraled,” she said of that relationship and some of the choices that led to incarceration and other inner struggles. “My self-esteem was shot and once you get into the system it’s really hard to get out.”

She was eventually referred to counseling services at Caminar, which is where she learned about Blackbird House. “When I first went there and found out that I could go back freely and I thought, who wouldn’t want to come back? It’s like an Airbnb —  I just love it there! I love meeting new people, doing projects and feeling comfortable and accepted to just be myself.”

Jen, who is known at the house for her amazing hot pink beach bike that takes her everywhere, shared that she recently got a job at Italian grocery store Zanotto’s. The staff was so happy for her, a few of them came down to have lunch with her on her break to support her new endeavor.

“We love Jen,” said Blackbird House Manager Will Couch. “She’s just so incredibly sweet and we are so proud of her. We really wanted to go down there and show her how happy and proud we are. We love having her at Blackbird too, she’s so positive.”

“I really enjoyed meeting her for the first time,” said our new Clinical Case Manager Margaret McCord. “That bike is the absolute best!”

When I asked Jen what she thought of them coming down to her work, she said she was brought to tears. “When they called and asked me if they could come down for lunch, I broke down in tears. People were looking at me with these cool people and I felt so popular.”

Having a background in cosmetology and skincare, Jen says she is looking at getting back into that industry and possibly barbering. She says that coming to the house and feeling a part of something again has helped her to gain back her self-esteem and given her more motivation and tools to move forward with her goals.

“I don’t believe in a lot of things, but I believe in Blackbird House and in the people there.”

In the news: Suisun City hosts resource fair for homeless residents

Daily Republic.png

Resource Connect Solano, a program operated by Caminar, streamlines access to life-changing housing and supportive resources for people in Solano County who are experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness.

The Resource Connect Solano team recently attended a resource fair in Suisun City for homeless residents, where they were able to assist individuals in need. The Daily Republic caught up with our team at the event and highlighted them in a July 29, 2021, article, “Suisun City hosts resource fair for homeless residents”, writing:

Free phones, healthy snacks and a bevy of resources welcomed the homeless Wednesday as local agencies that help transient residents hosted a resource fair across from the train station.

Many of the same organizations banded together to host a similar event earlier this month at Allan Witt Park in Fairfield.

Will Bible, of Resource Connect Solano, was at the Fairfield event and called it very successful.

“A lot of people need assistance, we are able to provide as a community,” he said. “I am hoping we can bring the same to Suisun City.”

Please read the entire article here.