Youth Mental Health Matters

At 16 years old, Miriam knows the importance of mental health awareness for teenagers in her area. "To me, it is important that the people who need help reach out and know there are people who care and understand them."  

That’s what United Way of Santa Cruz County’s Jóvenes SANOS is all about.

Jóvenes SANOS is a Watsonville-based youth leadership group working to elevate youth voices to shift the stigma around mental wellness and increase youth access to mental health resources. It seeks to cultivate peer-to-peer connections and promote hope, healing, and resiliency to create a culture of health and thriving. The program is a partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Santa Cruz County and the Watsonville Public Library.  

These youth are leading the conversation on mental wellness and addressing cultural barriers in the Latinx or Hispanic community regarding accessing mental health services in Watsonville.  That’s critical, because experts say Hispanic teens have higher rates of depression and suicide, but inadequate access to mental health services.  

Jóvenes SANOS youth is working to change the approach to discussing mental health with their peers. Says Edita, "Mental health is not just about sitting down and talking about it but to have fun also and getting to know others, telling their stories and experiences with mental health."