Community Health + Wellness

Expand existing program

The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that one-in-four individuals experiences a mental illness each year, underscoring a critical need for mental healthcare access across all patient populations. Access to holistic services that support mental health tends to be particularly our of reach for those who identify as LGBTQ+, BIPOC, (im)migrant, and/or low income. That limited care access is not for lack of patient motivation. According to the National Council on Behavioral Health, 56% of surveyed individuals desired a mental healthcare provider, but faced care barriers. Access to mental health services outside of clinic and agency environments generally require that individuals have insurance, be able to pay out-of-pocket, or both. And even when an individual or family can find an affordable provider, lack of practitioner availability, fragmented or ineffective care, and societal stigma are getting in the way of their access to holistic, culturally-competent services.

We believe that access to holistic services that support mental health and wellness is a human right, and recognize that it is often out of reach for many, particularly those who identify as LGBTQ+, BIPOC, (im)migrant, and/or low income. Through our shift away from industry culture over the past 2 years, we have sought to amplify Social justice; Cultural Humility, Sensitivity, and Inclusivity; Collaboration; Respect; Integrity; and Creativity. We also promote these same values internally, in order to create an atmosphere of open communication and mutual support. Through our sliding scale & pro-bono services we have offered compassionate, culturally-informed, and client-centered care to dozens of individuals and families in the Los Angeles community. This reach has expanded through our Residency program which offers use of our space at no-cost to artists, educators, and practitioners outside our practice in exchange for additional therapeutic services to the community at low or no cost.

Conservatively, through the extension of reduced-fee services, direct impact is a minimum of 30 individual clients per week/per year. Our indirect reach could impact a minimum of 120 additional people through the improved mental health of the clients, the de-stigmatization of mental illness, & subsequent mental health services accessed by those indirectly impacted (approx 60% of new-client referrals are from former/existing clients). Through the Residency, we can provide no-cost space to at least 10 facilitators and estimate that Residents will reach a minimum of 10 ppl/event at 4 events/Resident. Beyond the individual impact of attendees, we believe there will be an even broader impact as they share that information w/ their communities.

Our current success is simply measured by the fact that we are able to offer weekly sliding-scale and pro-bono services to existing clients and their families, and no-cost venue space to outside artists, educators, and practitioners, while simultaneously covering our operating expenses and ensuring that our clinical staff are able to earn livable wages without personal or professional burn out. We envision greatly increasing the number of both low-cost and pro-bono clinical hours as well as hours/space available through the Residency program through continued fiscal growth and support. At present, our sliding scale and pro-bono services account for over 35% of our clinical offerings, and we have designated 15% of our total space (hours) for our Residency programming. In the coming year, we would like to increase our low-cost and pro-bono services to 50% of our clinical services, and designate 25% of our space for Residency offerings. In addition to these aforementioned increases, we would like to subsidize continued education and trainings for our clinical staff to further our overall mission and support for the community.

LA is the healthiest place to CONNECT