Next Door receives grants for mental health ed series

“These organizations continually support our mission of opening doors to new possibilities by strengthening children and families and improving communities in Oregon and Washington,” said a Next Door press release.

“In the Gorge, mental health stigma is documented formally through the Community Health Needs Assessment,” continued the press release. “In 2017, the health assessment found the most common mental health condition in the Gorge is depression and a quarter of the population experiences one physical condition and one mental condition. Anecdotally, most social service providers in the Gorge can point to numerous instances where stigma has prevented someone from seeking care either for themselves or a family member, or frankly even discussing the issue.”

The Next Door’s Valle Verde was created as a follow-up to a wellness series called Pasos Hacia la Salud (Steps to Wellness), a bilingual course that empowered community members to understand their bodies and improve their health from a physical and emotional wellness perspective.

“Valle Verde’s goal is to increase mental health awareness of our Spanish-speaking community in the Columbia Gorge region and support mental health providers to better address Spanish-speakers’ treatment needs,” said the press release. “Our approach is three-fold: 1) Decrease the impact of negative stigma attached to mental health issues amongst the Spanish-speaking community in the Columbia Gorge region, 2) Increase the knowledge around mental health topics and issues as well as resources that exist within the Columbia Gorge region, and 3) Provide community members with at least three hours of informal counseling per week with Community Health Workers.”

In an effort to create safe cultural spaces and programming for communities to gather, this new funding will allow the Valle Verde team to implement a 12-week training series for up to 100 Spanish-speaking community members in Skamania and Hood River counties. Topics will include cultural beliefs and traditions, living in a new culture, trauma-informed care, suicide prevention, intimate partner violence, substance abuse and more.

“We are truly grateful for Providence, K-LINK, United Way, OCF, and PacificSource’s investment in our work and contribution to the betterment of our community,” said the release. “We look forward to continuing our partnership for years to come.”