Transitions-Mental Health Association recently promoted Henry Herrera to program manager of family services. This is following the retirement of Janice Holmes, who held the position for 14 years.
The association is a nonprofit organization committed to removing the stigma against mental illness and advocating the overall health of those suffering from those diseases and disorders in San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara counties.
Herrera has been influential in the expansion of family services programs at Transitions since he joined the organization in 2009. With almost 20 years of experience in the public health field, helping more than 500 families each year, Herrera has an abundance of related background and expertise.
He has traveled all over the United States as a supporter of children’s health services and is a spokesman for both English- and Spanish-speaking children and adults.
“I have always enjoyed advocating for families because it was the environment in [which] I was raised,” Herrera said in a recent press release. “I started out young by advocating for my father and mother, who did not speak English, thus I became their voice.”
Herrera provides confidential services and accommodations for all family members to better comprehend and confront the realities of serious and continuous mental illness. He teaches a six-hour orientation class for families new to the mental health system, and co-instructs a weekly family support group. Herrera also has a six-hour Families, Mental Illness, and the Judicial System course available to those with a mentally ill family member who is presently or previously, or is at risk of becoming, involved with the judicial system.
“I hope to mold a family services department that can make a greater impact in the courtroom with advocating for recovery and treatment and not incarceration for the mentally ill,” Herrera said in the press release. “It is paramount to offer support and hope to families who may have a loved one living with a mental illness because they may not know where to turn in a crisis, or in getting their loved one to ask for treatment and help.”
Intern Dora Saltzman compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or ideas to the Sun via email at [email protected].
