Catholic Charities of Northwest California’s Behavioral Health Program aims to introduce clients to a form of support that they may not have previously known about. The program serves all current Catholic Charities clients and accepts referrals from any of the agency’s programs, including housing, navigation, stabilization, and shelter services. The services offered include individual counseling, brief crisis intervention, and group sessions, such as those held at our family shelter. The program’s goal is to provide clients with diverse options and opportunities to access behavioral health services.
"A personal goal of mine, because we have such a great opportunity being present in our shelters, is exposing folks to a different picture of what behavioral health could be," said Behavioral Health Clinician Kenia Leon. "You can have a behavioral health counselor just hanging out at the drop-in center. It's not antagonistic. You can talk to us and see that we're just normal people. It doesn't have to be someone you only see when you're in crisis. Changing that narrative of what support looks like is a huge goal for this program."
“It's hard to think about the future or be hopeful when you're so focused on immediate needs like safety. Taking care of yourself becomes incredibly difficult when you're worried about all those things. Beyond that, a general barrier is uncertainty—whether the services that they're depending on right now are still going to be there in the future.”
For Kenia and the Behavioral Health team, it’s an honor and a privilege to be part of someone's growth. Kenia shared how amazing it is to see when clients realize they don't have to live a certain way or carry burdens that weren’t theirs to hold. “It is so powerful, and it's just great to see people let that go, be their own person, and make whatever decisions they want for themselves.”
“I think having behavioral health support in any community-based program is essential; you can't separate mental health from physical health. In a population that has been chronically short of resources, behavioral health is going to be a big piece of the puzzle. We know housing outcomes improve when there's behavioral health support. We know that transitions are smoother when behavioral health support is available.”
