-Events-

THIS SATURDAY! African American Community Initiative's Black History Month Celebration

Please join San Mateo County’s African American Community Initiative (AACI) for their 2023 Black History Month Celebration. The event is this Saturday, February 11th, 2023 from 10am to 2pm. In-person location is at Cooley Landing Center (2100 Bay Rd, East Palo Alto, CA 94303).

This event will be hybrid with an in-person limited capacity of 75 people. Registration is first come first serve, and you don’t want to miss out!

Scheduled presentations and activities include Black Mental Health, COVID-19 and Health Care in the Black Community, raffle prizes, live musical performances and poetry.

RSVP for the event here.

If you are interested to volunteer for set up, clean up, ushering, door monitoring, etc, please email dpennix@smcgov.org.

The mission of the African American Community Initiative is to become a known resource for African American Community members facing challenges with finding and utilizing mental health services, while addressing inequalities faced by African Americans in our county. Our vision is to build a community driven support system for reducing mental health and substance use treatment disparities, and the stigma of mental illness. Learn more about AACI here. 

---

-Programs-

Parent Project Spring 2023 Classes

Para la traducción al español, siga hasta la parte de abajo.  

The Spring 2023 Parent Project schedule is officially here! We are thrilled to announce that we will be hosting two of our Parent Project Spanish classes in-person this semester. 

The All Class Flyer is featured on our San Mateo County Health Parent Project Website which you can visit here.

For any questions pertaining to the Parent Project class, please contact Nicoletta Kelleher via email.  

Nicoletta Kelleher  (she/her/ella)
Parent Project Program Coordinator  
Nkelleher@smcgov.org 

---

Proyecto de Padres para la Primavera 2023

El calendario del Proyecto de Padres para la Primavera 2023 está oficialmente aquí! Es nuestro gran placer anunciar que organizaremos dos de nuestras clases in español del Proyecto de Padres, en persona este semestre.

El volante para Todas las Clases aparece en nuestro sitio web del Proyecto de Padres, Salud del Condado de San Mateo, que puede visitar aquí.

Para cualquier pregunta relacionada con la clase del Proyecto de Padres, comuníquese conmigo a través de mi correo electrónico. 

Nicoletta Kelleher (she/her/ella)
Coordinador del Programa de Proyecto de Padres 
Nkelleher@smcgov.org 

---

-New Resources-

• SMC BHRS Cultural Competency Plan (FY21-22)
• Cultural Humility Group Agreements now translated into all San Mateo County threshold languages! Find them in our new resources page here. 

---

-Meet our New Staff-

Irene Pham (she/her) | Community Program Specialist I

With a strong belief in the importance of community and celebration of diverse cultures, Irene is grateful to be a team member of the Office of Diversity and Equity. She will be supporting different areas of ODE including the WET team, MHSA planning and various HEI activities. Irene has received her Master in Public Health from the University of Southern California and maintains her certification as a health education specialist (CHES). She values integrative and individualized care, prevention, and cultural humility especially as we continuously learn and grow from the communities we serve. 

Fun Fact: Irene loves getting the opportunity to have an up close encounter with animals! Irene and her hubby have swam with the whale sharks at the Georgia aquarium and recently they got to pet some belugas!

 

Kai Thornton (he/she/they) | Program Coordinator II

Kai is one of the program coordinators of ODE. They work to directly review and update the Multi-Cultural Development Plan as well as supporting the sub-committees with resources and education regarding equitable practices. Kai comes to the county with over 6 years of direct case management, BHRS documentation training, and trauma informed care experience in the San Mateo County. A southern California transplant; They have a love for cats and horror movies and received their psychology degree at Cal State East Bay in Hayward.

Fun Fact: Kai dropped out of art school to pursue a psychology degree.

 

Maria Martinez (she/her/ella) | Health Education Associate

 

Nicoletta "Nica" Kelleher (she/her) | Program Coordinator II

Nica’s main responsibility is to coordinate the Parent Project, a program targeted help teach parents and/or caregivers ways to strengthen and improve relationships with their children through a series of parenting skills and practices. Nica also supports other community programs, such as the Health Ambassador and Storytelling/Photovoice Programs. In an effort to pursue her passion for equity in mental health that considers marginalized groups, she received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon.

Fun Fact: Nica can speak Italian.

 

Twila Dependahl (she/her) | Program Coordinator II

Twila manages and coordinates early intervention community trainings, including Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) for Adult, Youth and Teen and Be Sensitive, Be Brave (BSBB) for Mental Health and BSBB for Suicide Prevention. As the Suicide Prevention Program Coordinator, Twila assists with the implementation of the County’s Suicide Prevention Roadmap, Coalition Committee, partnership development with key stakeholders, such as cities, schools, transportation agencies and community based organizations. Twila received her BA in Combination Social Science from the University of CA Santa Barbara and MPA in Human Resources Management from the College of Notre Dame. 

Fun Fact: Twila and her son (who was 10 at the time) performed a hula for her mom's 70th birthday luau.