CVWU
Mental Health Awareness & Educational Forums
Cape Verdean Women United collaborates with community partners to offer Mental Health Awareness and Educational Forums. With this initiative, our goal is to reduce stigma and bring resources and information, in various languages to those in need. With access to culturally appropriate information and resources, people are more likely to engage in services.
CVWU facilitates several wellness-based support groups in the top three languages most widely spoken by regional immigrant populations: Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Creole, and Spanish. These support groups act as safe spaces for individuals to talk and connect with one another. With these support groups, CVWU is effectively able to provide a safe environment to those seeking support escaping from an abusive or potentially violent situation. Groups are offered to both men and women.
Mental Health First Aid
Members of our staff have been trained and are certified to provide the Mental Health First Aid program. Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training course that teaches participants about mental health and substance-use issues. To learn more, go to https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/.
Youth Mental Health First Aid
CVWU staff have been trained and are certified to provide the Youth Mental Health First Aid program. This program is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis.
The program is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders. To learn more, go to https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/population-focused-modules/youth/.
Mental Health Workshops
Our staff and volunteers often partner with mental health providers to offer community-based mental health awaress and education workshops. Over the years CVWU has collaborated to offer workshops in various languages and locations such as in churches, colleges, high schools, adult learning centers, and many more locations.
If you or your organization is interested in learning more or hosting one of our training programs, please reach out to us.
Send us a message!
We look forward to hearing from you. Whether you would like to donate a few hours of your time or work more closely as a regular volunteer with our support team, we want to hear from you.