Advancing Education and Leadership: Adelante Mujeres

Grant Information
Categories	Education , Peace , Community , Healthcare
Location	United States
Cycle Year	2023

Organization Information
Organization Name (provided by applicant)	Adelante Mujeres
Organization Name (provided by automatic EIN validation)
EIN	03-0473181
Website	https://www.adelantemujeres.org/

Contact Information
Contact Name	N/a Andrea Chunga-celis
Phone	5039920078
E-mail	achungacelis@adelantemujeres.org
Address	2030 Main Street Suite A Forest grove OR 97116

Additional Information
Used for	We most closely align with Dudley Dougherty Foundation's focus areas of Community, Education, Healthcare, and Peace. At Adelante all of our services embody a holistic approach that meets our communities need for compassionate and accessible services. We are specifically addressing Mental Health, Health Equity, and Sustainably Communities through the creation of Adelante’s 4th organizational pillar – the Health Equity Department.
Benefits	Our power is commitment to our community. We meet individuals where they are in life and walk together through mentorship and education to authentically build their goals. Through this approach, we have become the only organization in Washington County, OR that offers diverse expertise in education, enterprise, leadership, and health equity with a popular education approach for Latine families and communities of color. Moreover, Adelante Mujeres geographically serves a diverse population from both rural and urban areas. Adelante Mujeres specializes in the following unique ways, setting us apart and in cohesion with our other community-based partners. Adelante is the only organization in Washington County that provides a multi-generational approach within our Education Programs to eliminate educational disparities and affirm that caregivers are our children’s primary teachers. Adelante is piloting Washington County’s first culturally-responsive mental health programming to provide access to low-cost mental health services by culturally-responsive providers that are trained in culturally-specific and ancestral healing practices.
Proposal Description	Adelante’s Mental Health Department will support low-income Latine families and children with access to low-cost mental health services through the creation of a 4th Department. We will develop, provide, and model culturally and linguistically responsive-holistic mental health services to reduce biases of mental health and help our participants lead to healthy lives, strong families, and community resilience. With the support of the Dudly Dougherty Foundation, Adelante Mujeres will implement its Health Equity Department through a 3-tiered approach that focuses on the system of mental health, the whole health of our community, and individual members. Our tried approach includes: Tier 1: Addressing Universal Needs through a Mental Health Campaign Participants reported that stigma and lack of education or understanding about mental health issues have some of the greatest effects on the community. A community campaign focused on reducing stigma and providing information about various aspects of mental health. Activities: utilize social and print media and in-person gatherings to paint a picture of the importance of mental health, debunk misinformation, provide techniques for stress reduction and mindfulness, improve communication skills and boundary setting in relationships, create and provide access to mental health resources for the community. Tier 2: Community Seeks Healing Within Community Emphasis on Community Connections – Racial discrimination, oppressive and exclusionary legislation, and trauma related to the immigration/migration experience has created disconnect and fragmentation within Latine families and the community. This tier will work at re-establishing a network of community care and sense of community connection through peer-based groups and occupational therapy. Occupational Therapy’s scope of practice is to help participants identify and engage in valued and meaningful occupations and activities that promote health, wellness, and sense of belonging. Activities: Train Community Health Workers (Promotoras) to provide community outreach and help the community access mental health resources and information, provide community workshops and spaces for the community to connect over communal healing. Develop Spanish language Peer Support and Peer Wellness Curricula and lead Spanish language trainings. Tier 3: Therapeutic Interventions for Individuals, Families, and Community In 2021, Adelante Mujeres contracted with a pool of culturally and linguistically responsive and holistic therapy providers, as a temporary measure to meet the growing demand for mental health services. Adelante Mujeres hired a Mental Health Liaison (currently employed) to help individuals and families navigate accessing mental health services. With the creation of the new Department, we will employ therapy providers directly through Adelante Mujeres, while maintaining contractual partnerships, particularly as we build capacity. This will ensure that we can provide all community members, regardless of insurance status, with access to numerous therapy modalities. With our program creation we used popular education, liberation health, decolonizing theory, & trauma theory in creating our delivery model. We will serve an estimated 500 individuals and their families in the grant period.