Cohort receives $300,000 Future Ready Oregon Workforce Ready Grant to expand Latinx behavioral health services in Washington County

Beaverton, Ore. – Vision Action Network (VAN) was recently awarded funding to support a collaborative cohort focusing on the behavioral health sector with Adelante Mujeres and Raíces de Bienestar, two community-based organizations located in Washington County.

The $300,000 Workforce Ready Grant will help Adelante Mujeres and Raíces de Bienestar build their capacity to provide culturally and linguistically-specific behavioral health services for the Latino/a/e/x communities in Washington County and rural areas in the Willamette Valley and Southern Oregon. VAN will provide support through external communications, research, project management, and convenings.

“With this grant, VAN can continue to support and elevate the vital work of culturally-specific organizations. It’s part of a broader effort to strengthen the behavioral health sector for the benefit of Washington County residents and beyond,” said Glenn Montgomery, VAN’s Executive Director.

Raíces Executive Director and Co-Founder Dr. Ruth Zúñiga shared, “As a new nonprofit in Oregon trying to move beyond Western oriented behavioral health models to support our Latine communities as they reclaim their own emotional and mental health, we are honored to receive the funds and the opportunity for this partnership.”

Raíces de Bienestar will expand the reach of its culturally-specific mental health services and their clinical training program, and develop a sustainable career pathway for Traditional Health Workers (THW) in Washington County, Clackamas County, Marion/Polk Counties, and Jackson/Josephine Counties.

Adelante Mujeres will focus on establishing a culturally and linguistically-specific behavioral health clinic with licensed clinicians, as well as a Peer Support Specialist network to serve Washington County.

“Over Adelante’s twenty plus years of service we have seen our participants’ huge desire to access mental health services designed with the Latine community in mind,” said Executive Director and Co-Founder Bridget Cooke. “We are thrilled to be stepping into this space.”

Workforce Ready Grants are one component of Future Ready Oregon. This first round of funding is approximately $10 million focused on capacity building. Workforce Ready Grants invest in new and innovative education and training programs that center partnerships and collaboration – programs that approach workforce education and training differently, by identifying barriers to participation, program completion, and career advancement, and providing job training participants the supports and wraparound services they need to be successful.

This collaborative effort is an extension of VAN’s work with the Behavioral Health Initiative, born from a convening in March 2022, when VAN gathered nearly 90 key stakeholders in healthcare, workforce development, faith, government, and the nonprofit sector to explore innovative ways to strengthen the workforce in response to the behavioral health crisis in Washington County.

Learn more about the Behavioral Health Initiative and this collaboration on VAN’s website at www.visionactionnetwork.org.

Read the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission press release: First Round of Future Ready Oregon “Workforce Ready Grants” Expand Community Partnerships and Innovative Solutions.

Contact:
Glenn Montgomery
Vision Action Network
503.846.5792
glenn@visionactionnetwork.org