Grant Helps Empower Future Mental Health Leaders

Grant Helps Empower Future Mental Health Leaders

By Eric Breier

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Anahi Martinez Mendez has known since she was a teenager that she wanted to pursue a career helping children with mental health challenges.

Martinez Mendez contended with social anxiety herself as a teen, and she was eager to ensure that her younger siblings knew there were resources and support systems to help if they faced similar challenges.

"I was like their second mother, especially with my sister," Martinez Mendez said. "It made me think, 'How can I implement and help with mental health and related issues?' Because growing up, I never really had the support system."

Martinez Mendez arrived at Cal State San Marcos initially planning to major in psychology to work toward becoming a clinical psychologist or family therapist. But working at Student Health and Counseling Services inspired her to pursue a slightly different path.

Martinez Mendez spent two years during her undergraduate studies working in CSUSM's HOPE & Wellness Center as a peer educator. The experience was life-changing, inspiring Martinez Mendez to pursue her Master of Social Work at CSUSM after graduating last May as a double major in child and adolescent development and Spanish.

"I realized that I love doing more community outreach than working one on one," she said.

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The HOPE & Wellness Center is among several groups on campus devoted to providing mental health services for CSUSM students. Last year, the university received a $250,000 grant from the Conrad Prebys Foundationto advance those services, part of a larger $6 million investment by the Prebys Foundation in grants to 23 local organizations.

The Prebys Foundation's funding helped CSUSM launch a mental health intervention program called the Community of Care that brings together the Cougar Care Network, Student Health and Counseling Services, and the Crisis Response Team. The grant also served as a catalyst for additional philanthropic support, including funding from the San Diego Foundation's mental health program for Master of Social Work interns and a matching contribution from the Epstein Family Foundation.

The Community of Care's efforts to decrease mental health challenges and crises for students include the following strategies:

• Providing counseling through Student Health and Counseling Services for students seeking mental health support.
• Providing basic needs resources and expanding mental health referral support through Cougar Care Network and its mobile Care Cart.
• Providing response to time-sensitive mental health crises on campus.

Martinez Mendez is part of those efforts as a Master of Social Work graduate assistant this year for the HOPE & Wellness Center. She will be working closely with Cathy Nguyen, who is the coordinator of health promotion and a senior health educator, and Rosa Hunt, who is a health educator.

Martinez Mendez became more interested in social work through her undergraduate work with psychology professor Aleksandria Grabow. It was Grabow who taught her about the many different areas social work touches. A self-described introvert, Martinez Mendez also credits psychology professor Kimberly Vanderbilt for helping her grow and become more comfortable working with families.

As a Master of Social Work student, Martinez Mendez attends classes two days a week while working 20 hours a week at schools in San Marcos Unified School District to earn her pupil personnel services credential, which authorizes individuals to work as school counselors, school psychologists or school social workers.

It's all part of her goal to become a school social worker or therapist to continue advocating for mental health for school-aged children.

Visit the Student Health and Counseling Services websiteto learn about free mental health first aid trainings. SHCS will host a "Suicide Awareness Walk and Candlelight Vigil" at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25. Learn more about other upcoming events to support mental health on the SHCS events calendar.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

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