MINDING THE GAP: Poverty, homelessness, and restoring our broken mental health system

Join us for MINDING THE GAP: Poverty, homelessness, and restoring our broken mental health system

In this Social Justice Salon, we’ll explore how our community navigates the intersections of poverty, race, culture, social/emotional wellbeing, behavioral health, and homelessness. Human services providers have long understood that behavioral health access is essential for communities to thrive. Barriers to accessing culturally competent care have led to agencies embedding services within our programs through partnerships and other initiatives.

At MINDING THE GAP, local experts from the human services community and program participants will discuss some of the facts and myths impacting how behavioral health is viewed. We’ll also dig into innovative approaches to services for trauma-impacted families, people facing housing insecurity, and others with lived experiences with poverty.

Panelists include:

DeAunte Damper (Moderator) – Co-chair, WA Therapy Fund; Community Organizer, VOCAL-WA; and Host, Converge Media’s We Live in Color 
DeAunte has focused on bringing HIV awareness and LGBTQ-affirming education to marginalized communities throughout the City of Seattle. He served as a Peer Navigator for the Department of Health through POCAAN, and is a community organizer with both BUILD 206 and VOCAL-WA.
Johnny Bousquet, Participant Support Specialist Supervisor, CoLEAD – Dignity. Action. (PDA)
After facing his own addiction journey, Johnny has become an expert in survival support services and navigating complex and contradictory requirements to access help. He brings this expertise to CoLEAD in order to walk with participants as they navigate these systems.
Phillip Carr, CEO & Clinical Director, Good Intentions Counseling
Phillip’s expertise embodies a variety of complex concentrations and mental health challenges, including autism spectrum disorders, personality disorders, trauma, teen issues, mood disorders, anxiety, psychosis, and domestic violence.
Susan McLaughlin, Director of the Behavioral Health & Recovery Division, King County Department of Community & Human Services
Susan is a licensed clinical psychologist with more than 20 years of leadership experience in health, behavioral health, and social services as a clinician, researcher, and policy administrator.
Paul Park, Senior Director of Programs, Solid Ground
Paul is a primary care physician and nonprofit leader in public health and social services. His focus areas are quality improvements in community-based organizations designed to address issues of access and inequities in service delivery, as well as social determinants of health.
Alix Van Hollebeke, Director of Nursing, Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC)
Alix is a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse, and she currently serves as the Nursing Director for DESC. Alix has served vulnerable populations as a registered nurse and nursing 

Tickets are $10; refreshments will be served.