CalMHSA Stigma and Discrimination Reduction-DRAFT
Content
CalMHSA Stigma and Discrimination Reduction (SDR) Mini-Grant Application
Applicant Name: Milestones Wellness Center Address: P.O. Box 1640, Weaverville CA. 96093 Contact Name: Boe Anna Gorsuch, Peer Specialist Contact Phone/Email: [email protected] 530.623.4702 County to be Served: Trinity County Amount Requested: $7500 Part I: Brief Description of Applicant’s Work and Audiences Served Milestones Wellness Center opened in 2007 and is funded by Mental Health Services Act dollars. It is a consumer driven entity under the umbrella of Trinity County Behavioral Health. Milestones is primarily focused on the needs of mental health clients and promoting the Recovery Model. Milestones offers a place of respite for individuals who are homeless and also struggle with a mental health issue. At its inception Milestones focused on increasing socialization and decreasing isolation for participants. This has helped to increase the social skills and functioning of many of the consumers. Milestones Peer Specialists offer case management services to members of the Wellness Centers. Peer Specialists are available to assist with applications to entitlement programs as well as other paperwork. Trinity County takes up a large geographical area roughly the size of Rhode Island. The population numbers approximately 13,000 for the entire county. Even in the best of times the economy in Trinity County is challenged. The unemployment rate is high and the majority of individuals live at or below the poverty line. The population of older adults is growing as is the
number of individuals, who for varied reasons, choose to live on the fringes of the community. Those who identify as Caucasian make up the majority of the population however there is a significant number of individuals who identify as Native American. Milestones has identified several “target audiences” that would benefit from the stigma and discrimination reduction messages an effective speaker’s bureau could deliver. Focus would be put on scheduling speaking engagements at the Golden Age Senior Center, community service groups, and all schools within the Trinity Alps Unified School District. Presentations will also be delivered to partner agencies in the community. Part II: Do you currently have an operational speaker’s bureau? Answer: No Trinity County currently does not have a speaker’s bureau but what it does have is a wellness center that has become an integral part of consumers’ journeys toward their individual recovery. Consumers have gained a sense of empowerment and a voice through their involvement at the center. For some, this “voice” has evolved into the desire to share their stories of success and hope with others. Underlying these stories is a clear message of overcoming stigma and discrimination. Over the past two years consumers at the center have been responsible for providing two consumer perspective trainings to county staff as well as organizing two community-wide Native American spirituality and cultural events. As a strategy to reduce stigma and discrimination, consumers at the center have organized “May is Mental Health Month” community activities. These activities include presenting at the meetings of several local community service organizations, sponsoring a film with a mental health theme at the local movie theatre, and continuing “The Plant the Seed of Hope” project with provides local businesses with potted flower seeds and a message about mental health recovery. Consumer also organized a car wash
as a gesture of outreach to the community. An amazing 97% of the Milestones Wellness Center membership participated in this event. Should Milestones Wellness Center be awarded funds from the Cal MHSA mini-grant every effort would be made to meet the goals stipulated by the grant. Although familiar with the idea of stigma and discrimination reduction the new speaker’s bureau at the center would benefit from additional trainings on this subject. Milestones would use funds from the SDR mini-grant to facilitate additional trainings. Ideally, these trainings would focus on embedding more stigma and discrimination reduction messages in the presentations. To further meet the goal of incorporating more SDR messages, funds would be utilized to purchase materials that would assist in this effort. Milestones Wellness Center anticipates that the impact of having a functioning speaker’s bureau will be twofold. From a personal standpoint, members of the bureau will continue to develop a deeper sense of empowerment and self-efficacy. Both factors contribute positively to symptom reduction and engagement in the community through employment or volunteerism. Conveying messages that discourage stigma and discrimination to the community will help individuals become less fearful of mental health issues and perhaps encourage some to seek services. The establishment of a speaker’s bureau is a new project for the wellness center. The goal would be to have the bureau available to outreach into the community on a regular basis. One to two presentations on a monthly basis is a reasonable goal to aim for, especially during the initial start-up phase. Because Trinity County is a rural frontier county there are many small outlying communities. This means, in order for the speaker’s bureau to serve all of Trinity County, travel is necessary. Funds received from the grant would be utilized to support transportation. This
would make providing the message of stigma and discrimination reduction to under-served populations and communities significantly easier. Members who are working to form the speaker’s bureau have set the goal of eventual out-of-county presentations. During the first six months of the project, should Milestones receive grant funds, a baseline will be established. The start-up phase of the speaker’s bureau will entail a recruitment and training of three speakers. A schedule of presentations will be established with the target number being five to six presentations completed during the start up phase. Milestones anticipates that after this initial start-up phase, growth of the program will mean adding more speakers to the original team. Milestones intends to contract with speaker’s bureau presenters to ensure that stigma and discrimination reduction messages are appropriately embedded in all presentations. The speaker’s bureau will be outreaching into a community that still stigmatizes mental health issues. In effect, the messages that the speaker’s bureau will be delivering will begin the process of breaking down barriers. It is the intent of the Milestones Speaker’s Bureau to reduce the feeling of isolation and hopelessness of individuals in the community who may need to seek help but have not due to stigma. It is possible that by reducing this barrier, individuals who may be experiencing suicidal ideation may seek help. The emphasis of the speaker’s bureau will be to send the message of “approachability” of mental health services to the community. The guidelines state that at least 50% of the grant amount will be dedicated to stipends. Milestones Wellness Center intends to present stipends, in the amount of $100.00, to each speaker’s bureau member for each speaking engagement. Aside from stipends, it is anticipated that the majority of the funds will be used for transportation and training.
Estimated Budget: Amount Requested: $7500.00
Amount Dedicated for Stipends: Stipends (nx$100.00) $100.00 Stipends (nx$100.00) $100.00 Presentations 6 Presentations 6
Number of Participants
3
Number of Participants
Total (first six months of project) $1800.00
Total (next six months of project)
5
$4000.00 Total: $5800.00
Amount Dedicated for Training: $1000.00
Amount Dedicated for Transportation: $700.00
Application Signature and Date: ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Name and Title of Organization: ______________________________________________
Applicant Name: Milestones Wellness Center Address: P.O. Box 1640, Weaverville CA. 96093 Contact Name: Boe Anna Gorsuch, Peer Specialist Contact Phone/Email: [email protected] 530.623.4702 County to be Served: Trinity County Amount Requested: $7500 Part I: Brief Description of Applicant’s Work and Audiences Served Milestones Wellness Center opened in 2007 and is funded by Mental Health Services Act dollars. It is a consumer driven entity under the umbrella of Trinity County Behavioral Health. Milestones is primarily focused on the needs of mental health clients and promoting the Recovery Model. Milestones offers a place of respite for individuals who are homeless and also struggle with a mental health issue. At its inception Milestones focused on increasing socialization and decreasing isolation for participants. This has helped to increase the social skills and functioning of many of the consumers. Milestones Peer Specialists offer case management services to members of the Wellness Centers. Peer Specialists are available to assist with applications to entitlement programs as well as other paperwork. Trinity County takes up a large geographical area roughly the size of Rhode Island. The population numbers approximately 13,000 for the entire county. Even in the best of times the economy in Trinity County is challenged. The unemployment rate is high and the majority of individuals live at or below the poverty line. The population of older adults is growing as is the
number of individuals, who for varied reasons, choose to live on the fringes of the community. Those who identify as Caucasian make up the majority of the population however there is a significant number of individuals who identify as Native American. Milestones has identified several “target audiences” that would benefit from the stigma and discrimination reduction messages an effective speaker’s bureau could deliver. Focus would be put on scheduling speaking engagements at the Golden Age Senior Center, community service groups, and all schools within the Trinity Alps Unified School District. Presentations will also be delivered to partner agencies in the community. Part II: Do you currently have an operational speaker’s bureau? Answer: No Trinity County currently does not have a speaker’s bureau but what it does have is a wellness center that has become an integral part of consumers’ journeys toward their individual recovery. Consumers have gained a sense of empowerment and a voice through their involvement at the center. For some, this “voice” has evolved into the desire to share their stories of success and hope with others. Underlying these stories is a clear message of overcoming stigma and discrimination. Over the past two years consumers at the center have been responsible for providing two consumer perspective trainings to county staff as well as organizing two community-wide Native American spirituality and cultural events. As a strategy to reduce stigma and discrimination, consumers at the center have organized “May is Mental Health Month” community activities. These activities include presenting at the meetings of several local community service organizations, sponsoring a film with a mental health theme at the local movie theatre, and continuing “The Plant the Seed of Hope” project with provides local businesses with potted flower seeds and a message about mental health recovery. Consumer also organized a car wash
as a gesture of outreach to the community. An amazing 97% of the Milestones Wellness Center membership participated in this event. Should Milestones Wellness Center be awarded funds from the Cal MHSA mini-grant every effort would be made to meet the goals stipulated by the grant. Although familiar with the idea of stigma and discrimination reduction the new speaker’s bureau at the center would benefit from additional trainings on this subject. Milestones would use funds from the SDR mini-grant to facilitate additional trainings. Ideally, these trainings would focus on embedding more stigma and discrimination reduction messages in the presentations. To further meet the goal of incorporating more SDR messages, funds would be utilized to purchase materials that would assist in this effort. Milestones Wellness Center anticipates that the impact of having a functioning speaker’s bureau will be twofold. From a personal standpoint, members of the bureau will continue to develop a deeper sense of empowerment and self-efficacy. Both factors contribute positively to symptom reduction and engagement in the community through employment or volunteerism. Conveying messages that discourage stigma and discrimination to the community will help individuals become less fearful of mental health issues and perhaps encourage some to seek services. The establishment of a speaker’s bureau is a new project for the wellness center. The goal would be to have the bureau available to outreach into the community on a regular basis. One to two presentations on a monthly basis is a reasonable goal to aim for, especially during the initial start-up phase. Because Trinity County is a rural frontier county there are many small outlying communities. This means, in order for the speaker’s bureau to serve all of Trinity County, travel is necessary. Funds received from the grant would be utilized to support transportation. This
would make providing the message of stigma and discrimination reduction to under-served populations and communities significantly easier. Members who are working to form the speaker’s bureau have set the goal of eventual out-of-county presentations. During the first six months of the project, should Milestones receive grant funds, a baseline will be established. The start-up phase of the speaker’s bureau will entail a recruitment and training of three speakers. A schedule of presentations will be established with the target number being five to six presentations completed during the start up phase. Milestones anticipates that after this initial start-up phase, growth of the program will mean adding more speakers to the original team. Milestones intends to contract with speaker’s bureau presenters to ensure that stigma and discrimination reduction messages are appropriately embedded in all presentations. The speaker’s bureau will be outreaching into a community that still stigmatizes mental health issues. In effect, the messages that the speaker’s bureau will be delivering will begin the process of breaking down barriers. It is the intent of the Milestones Speaker’s Bureau to reduce the feeling of isolation and hopelessness of individuals in the community who may need to seek help but have not due to stigma. It is possible that by reducing this barrier, individuals who may be experiencing suicidal ideation may seek help. The emphasis of the speaker’s bureau will be to send the message of “approachability” of mental health services to the community. The guidelines state that at least 50% of the grant amount will be dedicated to stipends. Milestones Wellness Center intends to present stipends, in the amount of $100.00, to each speaker’s bureau member for each speaking engagement. Aside from stipends, it is anticipated that the majority of the funds will be used for transportation and training.
Estimated Budget: Amount Requested: $7500.00
Amount Dedicated for Stipends: Stipends (nx$100.00) $100.00 Stipends (nx$100.00) $100.00 Presentations 6 Presentations 6
Number of Participants
3
Number of Participants
Total (first six months of project) $1800.00
Total (next six months of project)
5
$4000.00 Total: $5800.00
Amount Dedicated for Training: $1000.00
Amount Dedicated for Transportation: $700.00
Application Signature and Date: ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Name and Title of Organization: ______________________________________________
