Hispanic Heritage Month

As Suicide Prevention Month comes to an end and Hispanic Heritage Month begins, we reflect on our critical relationships in the Spanish-speaking community. At Lines for Life, we believe community-based partnerships are essential to building a behavioral health system serving everyone. Our partnership with Raíces de Bienestar, an organization dedicated to promoting mental health and wellness among Oregon’s Latine communities, reflects this commitment.

I came into a new position at Lines for Life earlier this year and established the bilingual community training program. It was important that we network and build relationships with community partners right away for the program to be successful.

The Hispanic & Latino community experiences many barriers to Mental Health. One of them is stigma. There is not as much stigma around physical health – but when it comes to mental health, there is this narrative that the only people who look for help are the “crazy” people.