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May is Mental Health Awareness Month and we’ve been observing it in the United States since 1949. The last couple of years have been particularly challenging, and the importance of mental health and well-being has never been so significant.
We invite you to pay special attention to your mental health this month, as well as the mental well-being of your friends, family, and colleagues.
If you or someone you know needs help, please reach out.
Dear Friends,
I hope you are well. As I mentioned in my last email, May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
COVID-19 has exacted a mental health toll on our community and the world. Pre-pandemic, we saw a rising need for our services, particularly among adolescents and younger adults. Demand for behavioral health care increased during the pandemic — it will continue to grow as we re-open our communities and individuals and families begin to seek care.
Behavioral health care plays a crucial role in
► Reducing homelessness
► Reducing incarcerations
► Reducing costly emergency room visits
► Bolstering people's ability to engage with family, school, work, and primary care
Addressing behavioral health, along with the social determinants of health and inequities in our systems, will create enduring economic and health benefits. We can reduce a lot of human suffering by ensuring behavioral health care is available to all who need it.
At Caminar, we are more committed than ever to serving our most vulnerable neighbors with science-based and compassionate services that address complex behavioral health needs. We hope you will remain healthy and aware of your mental health, the mental health of your friends and family, and the mental health and wellbeing of our community. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Be well,
Mark Cloutier, MPP, MPH
Caminar CEO
Dear Friends,
I hope this message finds you well. As you may know, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This year has been hard. How are you?
As we slowly return to our post-pandemic new-normal, I encourage you to remain mindful of mental health – both your own and that of those who will continue to suffer long after the pandemic.
Consider sticking to the basics by practicing these six tips to improve emotional health and physical wellbeing, which we know are interrelated:
At Caminar, we are more committed than ever to serving our most vulnerable neighbors with quality, science-based, and compassionate services that address complex behavioral health needs.
We hope you will remain healthy and aware of your mental health, the mental health of your friends and family, and the mental health and wellbeing of our community. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Be well,
Mark Cloutier, MPP, MPH
CEO, Caminar
PS: Should you have any questions about our programs or ways to get involved, please reach out to our Development team at 650.513.1509 or development@caminar.org.
Caminar's Solano Forensic Team participated in Solano County’s Mental Health Awareness Month Car Parade last week. We are grateful the County of Solano put together a robust program of events for this important month, and our team loved participating in the parade.
Thank you to our team for their incredible work and dedication to our programs and clients; Caminar and this population is fortunate to have them!
Today, the Daily Journal published an article, “The demand for mental health services still up in San Mateo County,” featuring our CEO, Mark Cloutier. Mark spoke about the increase in demand for services during the pandemic. In addition, a long-time client shared experiences with her mental health during COVID-19.
“The question that remains to be answered is how long some of these negative mental health effects will last as things return to normal,” Cloutier said. “[We don’t know if] symptoms will subside, or if we are going to have a large number of people who will continue to need treatment that might be related to traumatic effects of losing loved ones or having some sort of severe experience during the pandemic.”
Please see the full article here.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Each May, we join with others across the nation to raise awareness, help reduce stigma, and educate our communities about mental health. Mental Health Awareness Month has been observed in May in the United States since 1949. The month is observed with media, local events, and film screenings.
Below are links to Mental Health Awareness Month activities:
Tuesday, May 11, San Mateo Daily Journal Mental Health Awareness virtual event, with remarks from our CEO, Mark Cloutier
San Mateo County: https://www.smchealth.org/post/mental-health-month
Solano County: https://www.solanocounty.com/documents/SOLANOMHM2021Calendar.pdf
Santa Clara County: https://bhsd.sccgov.org/information-resources/behavioral-health-board
Butte County: https://www.buttecounty.net/behavioralhealth/
In addition, we know this past year has been hard. Last year, we shared a number of mental health and coronavirus resources that we’d like to highlight again this year: https://www.caminar.org/blog/2020/4/28/mental-health-and-coronavirus-resources
Our CEO, Mark Cloutier, was recently discussed on KPIX-TV channel 5 the challenges facing the mental health system due to the pandemic, and what’s being done to address those challenges.
Please see the interview with Michelle Griego here.
Mental Health Awareness Month, which is observed each May, raises awareness of trauma and the impact it can have on the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of children, teens, adults, families, and communities.
Especially in this year, over a year into the COVID pandemic, we must recognize the importance of mental health. Please follow along with us as we share tips, resources, and events focused on mental health.
May 5, 2020
Dear Friends,
Are you feeling a bit of relief with the slight easing of restrictions this week? I hope you find comfort in the present and appreciate the greater good in the sacrifices you continue to make -- know that you are saving the lives of others by staying home. Thank you!
Each May, we recognize mental health awareness month and work to increase conversation and reduce stigma around mental health. Now, more than ever, mental health matters.
Nearly one in five adults in the United States lives with a mental illness.
As many as one in six children in the United States between the ages of 6 and 17 has a treatable mental health disorder.
Mental health and substance use disorders increase substantially during, following, and peak at one year after a natural disaster.
Similarly, increased substance use and mental health disorders are prevalent during and following a quarantine period.
What can you do?
Talk about it. Normalizing talking about difficult emotions and feelings, such as stress, grief, or loss, so as to help others do the same. Share your stories as widely as you feel comfortable.
Check in. Ask friends, family, and neighbors who may be at risk if they are okay.
Know the signs. Changes in behavior, excessive worry, substance abuse, and many more signs may indicate a mental illness. Educate yourself and others.
Ask for help. Or help others ask for help. Resources and services are available and willing to help.
Give back. If you are able to support our community with a financial contribution right now, we invite you to join #GivingTuesdayNow. Your gift will be utilized right away to provide life-changing, science-based, and compassionate mental health and substance use services to individuals and families in the Bay Area. A gift of any size will make a difference today!
Take care of yourselves and your families. If you or a loved one are struggling more significantly with mental health or behavioral health concerns, please see the list of resources in the “What can you do?” part of this email above.
I thank you for your ongoing support of Caminar, our divisions, and our work to improve the health and wellness of our community. Please reach out if you need anything; we are available by phone at 1-650-372-4080 or email at info@caminar.org.
Stay healthy,
Mark Cloutier, MPP, MPH
Chief Executive Officer
P.S. If you find this information valuable, we invite you to support Caminar’s work with a donation. #GivingTuesdayNow
“While we are facing an infectious disease outbreak, it is critical that we acknowledge and address the co-occurring mental health and substance use epidemic that predictably follows in its path. Our ability to ultimately manage, control, and end this epidemic will be primarily driven by our own mental health.”
-Mark Cloutier, CEO, Caminar
The outbreak of coronavirus has brought considerable change, uncertainty, and stress to our lives. With that stress comes anxiety, fear, and a host of complicated and strong emotions in adults and children. Now, more than ever, mental health matters.
We recognize mental health awareness month each May, which is particularly timely this year. Now, in May, and always, we will share resources, tips, and ideas on all matters of mental health.
Please use the following buttons to navigate through the various resources we’ve published.
In recognition of Mental Health Month, our Solano region hosted the 8th Annual Cammie Awards on Thursday, May 23.
As always, this gathering highlighted clients who have reached a successful milestone and are sailing to wellness on their journeys toward recovery. Clients were recognized for inspiring achievements with housing, education, employment, sobriety, and healthy lifestyles.
Centerpieces were handmade and hand-painted sailboats created by clients at our Wellness and Recovery Center. Guests enjoyed a lovely lunch complete with delicious desserts and fun door prizes before the awards ceremony began.
We applaud the efforts of all clients as they move toward resilience, wellness, and independence. And, we delight with them in all of their accomplishments.
Special thanks to Fremont Hospital for once again generously sponsoring this special event.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a month in which mental health advocates and leaders work to amplify awareness of mental health issues and the stigma around mental illness.
And as you likely know, our society is experiencing an epidemic wave of adolescent behavioral health disorders. In fact, one in eight teens reported a major depressive episode in 2014–2015, up 25% in the last four years.
One of a child’s greatest protective factors is a sympathetic adult who can help the child understand their own feelings, develop emotional skills, and buffer the child’s exposure to adverse experiences that cause emotional distress. That sympathetic adult may be a parent, guardian, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, coach, teacher, close family friend, or other caring adult.
Here are five tips to help create homes, workplaces, schools, and communities where mental wellness is valued, discussed, and embodied. We invite you to consider which you may like to try in your life.
Normalize talking about difficult emotions and feelings, such as stress, grief, or loss.
Consider reducing or eliminating screen time at night to improve the quality and length of sleep.
Take time at one weekly meal to encourage everyone to share something about their day. Through listening and supporting each other, show that emotional experiences are valued.
Talk about mental health and how it affects your family with community leaders and elected officials.
End the stigma by being forthcoming about your own struggles and success with your own mental health – you can be an example of resilience for your family, peers, and community.
We would love to hear from you, too! What practices do you find help to promote mental wellness? We will feature tips in a future blog post. Please send your tips to connections@caminar.org.
The complexity of needs influencing the health and well-being of local youth and adults has been increasing over the last several years.
We find people often are overwhelmed by overlapping and interrelated challenges, whether it’s serious mental illness and maintaining safe, affordable housing, or the co-occurring symptoms of mental health and substance use disorders, or trying to balance mental health recovery and the demands of the workplace.
Complex needs impact all age groups. Here are a few statistics to remind us of the importance of behavioral health solutions and services.
1 in 5 adults have a mental health condition. That's over 40 million Americans; more than the populations of New York and Florida combined. Mental Health America
One in eight teens reported a major depressive episode in 2014–2015, up from one in 11 in 2011–2012. Two-thirds of adolescents with major depressive episodes did not get treatment. California Health Care Foundation
Overall, sexual minority youth were 3.5 times as likely to attempt suicide as heterosexual peers. Transgender adolescents were 5.87 times more likely, gay and lesbian adolescents were 3.71 times more likely and bisexual youth were 3.69 times more likely than heterosexual peers to attempt suicide. JAMA Pediatrics
An estimated 43.6 million (18.1%) Americans ages 18 and up experienced some form of mental illness. In the past year, 20.2 million adults (8.4%) had a substance use disorder. Of these, 7.9 million people had both a mental disorder and substance use disorder, also known as co-occurring disorders. SAMHSA
An estimated 26% of homeless adults staying in homeless shelters live with serious mental illness and an estimated 46% live with severe mental illness and/or substance use disorders. HUD
Nearly half of 20,000 US adults surveyed indicate they suffer from feelings of loneliness. Cigna
We are grateful to all of our donors, funders, and friends who help Caminar’s work to empower and support individuals and families to move toward resilience, wellness, and independence.
Solano County Behavioral Health hosted the 5th Annual Mental Health Month Celebration on Saturday, May 4 at the County Events Center. Caminar staff, including a contingent from our Wellness and Recovery Center, joined the celebration and brought awareness Caminar’s services in Solano County.
We extend our gratitude to the team for spending their Saturday in the community and providing outreach efforts to help our most vulnerable neighbors.
The month of May marks Mental Health Awareness Month. As you may know, mental health challenges are quite common.
In fact, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),
Approximately 1 in 6 adults in the U.S. lives with a mental illness.
Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 have or previously had a mental disorder.
1.1% of adults in the U.S. live with schizophrenia.
2.6% of adults in the U.S. live with bipolar disorder.
6.9% of adults in the U.S.—16 million—had at least one major depressive episode in the past year.
18.1% of adults in the U.S. experienced an anxiety disorder such as posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and specific phobias.
Among the 20.2 million adults in the U.S. who experienced a substance use disorder, 50.5%—10.2 million adults—had a co-occurring mental illness.
Unfortunately, research shows that many people do not reach out for support.
This May, let’s bring awareness to this important health issue and encourage friends, family, and colleagues to better understand the significance of mental health. Here are a couple of resources to start the conversation:
Together, we can support those who most need it and ensure no one feels alone in their mental health journey.
At Caminar, we strive to increase awareness of mental health all year round. We believe education goes a long way toward overcoming stigma around mental illness and creating communities that support recovery.
May provides a special opportunity to celebrate recovery and provide information about mental health as Mental Health Awareness Month is observed nationwide.
Above we share a sampling of some of our Mental Health Awareness Month activities this year. From top, left to right:
Special thanks to Michael Collopy for the photos from the Circle of Support Luncheon, Mental Health Symposium and Cammies, and to Gary Cullen for the photograph from the Vallejo mental health information night event.
Tonight, May 16, representatives from Caminar Solano will be taking part in a community conversation about mental health. We're delighted to be partnering with Vallejo Police Citizen's Workshop to raise awareness about mental health and our services during Mental Health Awareness Month. Join us!
Click here to view the event webpage.
Read about the event in the Times Herald!
Library patrons are being educated about Mental Health Month and the services that Caminar provides thanks to a donation by Tim and Susan McDonald of the Vallejo Arts Counsel. Ken Langill, Program Coordinator at the Wellness Recovery Center, secured 7 Mental Health Month posters and informational brochures that showcase the Wellness Recovery Center, FSP Program, CCM Program, Supported Housing, and our homeless outreach program called H.O.M.E. You can see the displays at the following locations:
Benicia Library, Benicia, CA
Springtown Library, Vallejo, CA
John F. Kennedy Library, Vallejo, CA
Cordelia Library, Fairfield, CA
Fairfield Library, Civic Center, Fairfield, CA
Suisun Library, Suisun, CA
Vacaville Library (Town Square) Vacaville, CA
On May 21, the Basecamp Fitness family came together across its four locations to help Caminar for Mental Health raise money for Mental Health Awareness month.
Basecamp Fitness, with locations in Burlingame, San Francisco, Santa Monica and West Hollywood, opened its doors to Caminar and its members biked over 1,400 miles in the name of mental health awareness.
"We cannot be more grateful to Basecamp Fitness and their members for their hard work and sweat," said Caminar's Director of Development, Carolyn DeVoto Salcido. "As a community-based nonprofit, it's truly heart-warming to see other community entities like Basecamp really open their hearts to our mission."
[RELATED: Caminar participates in "Road to Recovery 5K"]
In all, the four Basecamp studios combined to raise more than $2,200 for mental health awareness.
Basecamp Fitness is a 35 minute, heart-pumping, muscle-building, fitness experience that builds a healthier person! They are a tight knit, supportive community built around building strong hearts inside and outside their studio.
Caminar for Mental Health’s stars shined bright on Friday, May 20 during the 5th Annual Cammie Awards.
“Walk a mile in their shoes” was the theme for the 2016 version of the Solano region’s biggest date on the calendar and over 100 people attended the award ceremony that filled Vallejo’s Foley Cultural Center.
“Cammies are really meant to honor our clients for their achievements in recovery,” said Chris Kughn, Executive Director of Caminar’s Solano Region. “We really build on the courage of the clients that we serve. They get acknowledged for achievements in recovery, achievements in maintaining housing, finding employment, reintegrating into community. This is one day when we formally acknowledge our clients, but everyday our clients show they’re moving into recovery.”
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL COLLOPY
In all, eight clients and three volunteers were honored during the award ceremony that focused on walking a mile in the shoes of those Caminar serves. “It’s really challenging to walk a mile in someone’s shoes,” Kughn said. “The idea is to take today and really think about how challenging it is for many of our clients to get up every single day, go to work, pay their rent — really taking a moment today to acknowledge just how powerful of a drive they have to move forward in recovery.”
[RELATED: Solano brings Art Therapy Inspiration to Vallejo's John F. Kennedy Library]
“I think individuals who struggle with substance and mental health challenges are often isolated,” Kughn said. “They don’t get acknowledged for what they’re doing in their lives even if it feels like it’s not a huge thing. The power of the Cammie Awards is having the opportunity to be witnessed by your community.”
