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November, 2022
Dear Friends,
My message of gratitude I was preparing seems insufficient in the aftermath of last weekend’s tragedy in Colorado Springs, just hours before communities across the country would be honoring Trans Day of Awareness, a day to recognize the individuals who have lost their lives or survived senseless violence because of their gender identity. Trans Day of Awareness is a solemn day but also one of hope. It demands that we recognize and protect the most basic human rights of our trans friends, family members, colleagues, and neighbors. It also reminds all of us that our work as allies is a constant journey of learning and challenging our misconceptions and biases.
Now, more than ever, it’s important to lean in and support one another. As we enter the season of gratitude, I am grateful that I belong to this community of passion and grace. It requires passion to do this work; to continue to show up in the face of adversity and scarcity. Additionally, I am continuously floored by our ability to extend grace and kindness to one another. I hope you call can take some time this week or next week to rest and nourish your mind, bodies, and spirits.
Be well and continue to be kind,
Alison Canino, Executive Director
October, 2022: Halloween
The Cottage Grove Halloween Hootenanny was a huge success as Bohemia Park was overtaken by superheroes, witches, zombies, vampires, dinosaurs, animals of all types, princesses, and quite a few monsters. Our South Lane Mental Health team dressed up as fairytale characters and we got lots of smiles and laughs. We handed out over 2,000 pieces of candy and won the award for “Funniest Booth”! A huge thank
you to Ali (Snow White), Tanesha (the Princess and the Pea), and Kelly (Granny Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood) for all of their hard work getting our booth set up and to Kerstin (Peter Pan) and Haley (Little Red Riding Hood) for braving the rain/cold and handing out candy to the kiddos of Cottage Grove (many of them waited in line for an hour or two to get into the park!)
October, 2022: The 15th Annual PTSD symposium
The organizer of this event was the Kim Sticka PTSD Music and Arts Foundation. More information about this foundation can be found here:
Facilitating Discussions, Finding Solutions
September, 2022: Cottage Grove Incident
South Lane Mental Health is deeply concerned by the recent conflict that occurred between Cottage Grove police officers and a member of the community we serve. Our agency is dedicated to healing trauma. We hope to provide a caring presence for all involved in this incident. We also look forward to continuing dialogue with the community, Lane County, the City of Cottage Grove officials, and the Cottage Grove Police Department around mental health awareness, mobile crisis services and crisis de-escalation. In this time of heightened emotions, there is an opportunity for us to come together and reimagine how we can meet the needs of our most vulnerable community members.
We recognize that many of the institutions in American society have roots in institutionalized discrimination, which includes the mental health field. We believe it’s important to recognize this as we move forward in our work with our community partners. We hope to bring together local and county partners using a trauma-informed lens and to ease defenses rather than add to them. We feel the need to emphasize that our neutrality is not indifference. Vulnerability will create change. – Alison Canino, Executive Director
June, 2022: Roe v. Wade
South Lane Mental Health joins with the American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, the American Counseling Association, and the National Association of Social Work in its full opposition to the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and eliminate guaranteed access to essential reproductive health care. We agree with the AMA when it asserts the public health danger created by this decision, one that will “lead to government interference in the patient-physician relationship, dangerous intrusion into the practice of medicine, and potentially criminalizing care.” We agree with the APA when it asserts the mental health dangers created by the assault on bodily autonomy that “ignores not only precedent but science and will exacerbate the mental health crisis America is already experiencing.” We agree with the ACA when it asserts “we can expect an increase in economic hardship and insecurity that may lead to increased stress, lower life satisfaction, decreased work productivity, increased turnover, and decreased mental well-being. We agree with the NASW when it declares that “all individuals have a right to bodily autonomy, that abortion is health care, and that all individuals have the right to freedom of choice in accessing essential health care services most especially their reproductive health.” Last, we agree with the AOA in their support of the position to support the sanctity and privacy of the patient-physician relationship. “We denounce any federal or state legislative or administrative action that interferes with that relationship. We also condemn any attempts to criminalize or impose civil penalties on physicians for the provision of physician-level care.”
South Lane Mental Health is both a Mental Health and Public Health institution, and as such, we endorse the positions of these public and mental health governing bodies. SLMH affirms the bodily autonomy and reproductive health care rights of all women.
American Medical Association Statement: https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/ruling-egregious-allowance-government-intrusion-medicine
American Psychological Association Statement: https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2022/06/scotus-abortion-decision
National Association of Social Workers Statement: https://www.socialworkers.org/Advocacy/Policy-Issues/Reproductive-Rights-Are-Human-Rights
American Optometric Association Statement AOA statement on Supreme Court repeal of Roe V. Wade – American Osteopathic Association
