Community Resident in Action (CRIA), 2015-2016

Jacqueline Gómez-Arias is a resident of the Glendale neighborhood who was hired as a diversity outreach coordinator by NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health) Utah in 2011 and enrolled in the Westside Leadership Institute in 2012. As an immigrant and an individual having suffered from mental illness, Jacqueline saw a need for greater education, advocacy and support for people with mental illness in the minority community of Utah and formed an organization called the NAMI Latino de Utah Task Force.

From this effort grew Latino Behavioral Health Services (LBHS), which seeks to address issues such as domestic violence and substance abuse in the minority communities of Utah that the Task Force does not have the resources or flexibility to address

In the coming year, Jacqueline seeks to strengthen the mental health and substance use disorder partnership between University Neighborhood Partners and LBHS by developing and implementing peer to peer and family support programs, which have been identified as the highest priority needs in the minority mental health community by the Task Force.

Peer to Peer mentorship, resource facilitation, education courses and support groups will be developed and implemented in Spanish in partnership with LBHS, NAMI Utah, Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness (USARA), as well as 12-step recovery programs. Resident teacher training was completed by June 2015 and classes for individuals with mental illness began in fall 2015.

Community partners -- individuals who are trained and supervised by Jacqueline -- will continue to facilitate programs for the family members like Familia a Familia (for family members), Bases y Fundamentos (for parents of children under 18) and Progression (for adolescents who identify with a mental health issue) throughout 2015 and 2016.

Bilingual (English plus any other language) young adult-focused programs will open the door for support, recovery, and empowerment for youth of refugee and immigrant backgrounds. These programs will include Progression and Mental Health First Aid, which targets young adults who, as teens, have had mental health issues and have found recovery. These young adults are trained to support adolescents in the community who are in crisis.

Training includes education about the signs and symptoms of mental illness, their impact, and resources/actions available to help adolescents. These programs began in August of 2015, and will be implemented by community partners working with Jacqueline’s support throughout 2015 and 2016.

The goal of these programs is to increase the quality of lives of west side residents as well as their chances to access higher education. LBHS will be partnering with the Honors College at the University of Utah for a “Culture and Mental Health class” during the 2015-2016 school year. This will bring together university students and west side residents who are involved in the programs mentioned above or other programs run by LBHS or the Task Force.

We hope that these connections will help reduce barriers that minorities face in accessing higher education while offering a truly unique experience of community work and diversity perspectives for students. West side residents living with healthy minds are more likely to succeed and give back to their communities. By eliminating crises, helping people get on their feet, and creating opportunities for teaching and learning together, Jacqueline and the partnerships she bridges hope to facilitate success in the community.

Julia graduated from the University of Utah and is a Research Associate at the Utah Center for Evidence Based Treatment.