{"id":1885,"date":"2018-09-05T22:02:18","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T22:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/?p=1885"},"modified":"2019-07-02T22:04:22","modified_gmt":"2019-07-02T22:04:22","slug":"proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/","title":{"rendered":"Proyecto Cu\u00eddate Works to Address Disparities in Community Wellness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rosa Sanchez joined the Proyecto Cu\u00eddate staff when the program was still getting off the ground. Back in 2014, the violence prevention initiative at Erie Neighborhood House was piecemealing together grant funding and staff assets to address needs in Chicago\u2019s South Lawndale\/Little Village community, located on the city\u2019s Southwest Side.<\/p>\n

Today the program has grown\u2014quite considerably. It consists of 8 individuals; 2 staff members are fully dedicated to providing counseling and facilitating group therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a really strong, passionate group of people who care about the work that we do,\u201d says Sanchez, who became the Proyecto Cu\u00eddate program manager in 2016. \u201cI\u2019m proud of our staff, where we\u2019re at and everything we\u2019ve been able to develop. We\u2019ve been able to expand and meet some of the needs of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year Proyecto Cu\u00eddate provided individual therapy to 85 clients, with duration of care ranging from 12 sessions to a year or more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re focusing on the person and their strengths and understanding overall community and individual needs,\u201d says Sanchez. \u201cA lot of our clients and families come to us with complex trauma\u2014all these experiences in their lives that add up to form the trauma they have experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in order to properly treat someone who has gone through trauma, long-term therapy is important,\u201d she adds. \u201cHealing doesn\u2019t happen quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trauma experienced by clients at Erie House often comes in the form of violence, in particular community violence\u2014whether through gang activity, sexual assault, theft and the like\u2014and domestic violence.<\/p>\n

But other trauma-inducing factors can include grief over a family member being deported or the anxiety produced by the threat of deportation, economic challenges, acculturation and housing instability.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the intake appointments are very, very, very heavy and intense as far as what people bring to the table and what they\u2019re holding,\u201d says Sanchez.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, she praises the work clinical therapist Mariana Martinez has done to manage the intake process at Erie House. \u201cMariana has been doing a really great job of doing an intake for as many people as possible on our wait list to see where they\u2019re at, what they need, the severity of needs\u2014and thinking of creative solutions to reducing the time people need to wait to obtain services.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cA lot of our clients and families come to us with complex trauma\u2014all these little things that add up to form the trauma they have experienced.\u201d<\/h3>\n

\u2013 Rosa Sanchez, Proyecto Cu\u00eddate Program Manager<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Clients on the waitlist currently can expect a minimum of 6 months before they\u2019re able to begin therapy. \u201cWe are prioritizing our VOCA clients as well as referrals from the Department of Children and Family Services,\u201d explains Sanchez. \u201cWe\u2019re also getting referrals from other partners, or people are just calling us for counseling and therapy services.\u201d<\/p>\n

VOCA stands for Victims of Crime Act, a bill passed in 1984 to address the needs of the individual(s) against whom a crime was committed\u2014beyond punitive actions toward the offender. Attached to VOCA are special provisions for survivors of domestic violence, including funding for counseling and, for immigrants who qualify, the opportunity to apply for a U-VISA thanks in part to the 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).<\/p>\n

Sanchez describes the therapy sessions as client-centered and strength-based. \u201cIt\u2019s best to support\u2014not label\u2014people and give them choices with regard to mental health goals,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

For Lupe*, a local resident who has received counseling through Proyecto Cu\u00eddate, the level of care she encountered at Erie House was transformative.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I was here I felt happy and calm because I could talk with someone about my problems,\u201d says Lupe. She uses words like \u201csafe\u201d and \u201ccomfortable\u201d to describe the environment she encountered when first coming to Erie House. \u201cI learned a lot in the program,\u201d she adds. \u201cMy life\u2019s changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through funding from Healthy Communities Foundation as well as a handful of smaller grants, Proyecto Cu\u00eddate is able to provide services to clients like Lupe free of charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor adults who don\u2019t have insurance or can\u2019t afford out-of-pocket costs, therapy can remain out of reach,\u201d says Sanchez. \u201cMany of our clients have nowhere else to go or no one else to talk to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proyecto Cu\u00eddate clinicians are also bicultural and bilingual, making them well-equipped to provide culturally responsive care to children and adults seeking care. \u201cThere\u2019s a sense of community here,\u201d says Sanchez. \u201cPeople feel comfortable working with us and they trust us.\u201d<\/p>\n

But even with this level of investment, there is still a vast and shortage of counseling services in the community. \u201cThere is not enough access\u2014because of a lack of resources and because of costs\u2014and there are not enough clinicians period on the Southwest Side,\u201d says Sanchez. \u201cThis is an ethical issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Access can be particularly bleak in the Lawndale\/Little Village neighborhood. At Erie House, more than 50 individuals are on a waitlist for counseling services; similar waitlists exist at partner organizations scattered throughout the community comprised of primarily Latinx and black families.<\/p>\n

To address this disparity, the Collaborative for Community Wellness (CCW)\u2014a network of two dozen agencies, including Erie House\u2014recently published a report entitled, Uplifting Voices to Create New Alternatives: Documenting the Mental Health Crisis for Adults on Chicago\u2019s Southwest Side<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lack of investment in mental health and wellness services in our community, in our city and in our country,\u201d says Sanchez. Nevertheless, CCW members do an excellent job collaborating, referring and connecting with one another to promote wellness in the community.<\/p>\n

She notes that this lack of investment isn\u2019t the case in more affluent parts of the city, bringing up a poignant question: \u201cWhat can we as a nonprofit organization do to address that?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a question programs like Proyecto Cu\u00eddate are doing their best to answer.<\/p>\n

* Pseudonym used to protect identity of client<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rosa Sanchez joined the Proyecto Cu\u00eddate staff when the program was still getting off the ground. Back in 2014, the violence prevention initiative at Erie Neighborhood House was piecemealing together…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":1886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-1885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-proyecto-cuidate"],"yoast_head":"\nProyecto Cu\u00eddate Works to Address Disparities in Community Wellness - Erie Neighborhood House<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Proyecto Cu\u00eddate Works to Address Disparities in Community Wellness - Erie Neighborhood House\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rosa Sanchez joined the Proyecto Cu\u00eddate staff when the program was still getting off the ground. Back in 2014, the violence prevention initiative at Erie Neighborhood House was piecemealing together…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Erie Neighborhood House\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-05T22:02:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-02T22:04:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/185\/2019\/07\/sanchez-560.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"bpaff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"bpaff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/\",\"name\":\"Proyecto Cu\u00eddate Works to Address Disparities in Community Wellness - Erie Neighborhood House\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/185\/2019\/07\/sanchez-560.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-05T22:02:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-02T22:04:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/#\/schema\/person\/27a5617626a56bfabb8d208419288b55\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/185\/2019\/07\/sanchez-560.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/185\/2019\/07\/sanchez-560.jpg\",\"width\":560,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Proyecto Cu\u00eddate Works to Address Disparities in Community Wellness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/\",\"name\":\"Erie Neighborhood House\",\"description\":\"A home with no borders since 1870.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/#\/schema\/person\/27a5617626a56bfabb8d208419288b55\",\"name\":\"bpaff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e5a447400084a5ba3a119a3638ef4515?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e5a447400084a5ba3a119a3638ef4515?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"bpaff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/author\/bpaff\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Proyecto Cu\u00eddate Works to Address Disparities in Community Wellness - Erie Neighborhood House","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Proyecto Cu\u00eddate Works to Address Disparities in Community Wellness - Erie Neighborhood House","og_description":"Rosa Sanchez joined the Proyecto Cu\u00eddate staff when the program was still getting off the ground. Back in 2014, the violence prevention initiative at Erie Neighborhood House was piecemealing together…","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/","og_site_name":"Erie Neighborhood House","article_published_time":"2018-09-05T22:02:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-07-02T22:04:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":560,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/185\/2019\/07\/sanchez-560.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"bpaff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"bpaff","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/","name":"Proyecto Cu\u00eddate Works to Address Disparities in Community Wellness - Erie Neighborhood House","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/185\/2019\/07\/sanchez-560.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-05T22:02:18+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-02T22:04:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/#\/schema\/person\/27a5617626a56bfabb8d208419288b55"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/185\/2019\/07\/sanchez-560.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/185\/2019\/07\/sanchez-560.jpg","width":560,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/proyecto-cuidate-works-to-address-disparities-in-community-wellness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Proyecto Cu\u00eddate Works to Address Disparities in Community Wellness"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/","name":"Erie Neighborhood House","description":"A home with no borders since 1870.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/#\/schema\/person\/27a5617626a56bfabb8d208419288b55","name":"bpaff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e5a447400084a5ba3a119a3638ef4515?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e5a447400084a5ba3a119a3638ef4515?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"bpaff"},"url":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/author\/bpaff\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1885"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1887,"href":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885\/revisions\/1887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.neoninspire.com\/eriehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}