Category Archives: Health

Articles, Health

Sutter Coast Hospital To Break Ground On EmPATH Unit Next Month

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Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose

Nearly six months after Del Norte County rolled out its new Providing Access to Hope program, Behavioral Health Director Shiann Hogan briefly mentioned Sutter Coast Hospital’s new EmPATH unit.

Hogan had brought her staff and the clients they serve before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to commemorate May as Mental Health Awareness Month. In addition to thanking her team — “the ones doing the daily work to improve lives” — Hogan said the hospital’s latest development is one of several new treatment options that will be available on the North Coast.

“Yesterday it was announced by the governor many projects that are going to be funded through the Prop 1 BCHIP funds,” she said, referring to the Proposition 1 Bond Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program.

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Articles, Health, Youth

Meeting New Medi-Cal Requirements For Incarcerated Youth Is Challenging Even With A $1.5 Million Grant, Del Norte’s Chief Probation Officer Says

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Though his office was awarded a $1.5 million grant that will allow youth in their care to either connect or reconnect with Medi-Cal upon release from a detention facility, Lonnie Reyman isn’t thrilled.

Reyman, Del Norte County’s chief probation officer, told supervisors on Tuesday that he’ll likely use the CalAIM PATH 3 grant to hire a consultant to help create a plan for implementing the state-mandated program. But having to suddenly navigate the nuances of the “healthcare world” while relying on technical assistance from those who are also still figuring the program out is irritating, he said.

Reyman used a conversation he had during an October technical assistance call with teams from the University of California, Davis who, he said, were working with the state to help guide him and other counties through the program.

Continue reading Meeting New Medi-Cal Requirements For Incarcerated Youth Is Challenging Even With A $1.5 Million Grant, Del Norte’s Chief Probation Officer Says →
Articles, Community News, Health

Funding Challenges, Uncertainty Persist For Del Norte Senior Nutrition, Energy Assistance Programs

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Charlaine Mazzei acknowledged the truth in a statement Chris Howard made at the last Board of Supervisors meeting: There’s no word yet on whether the Del Norte Senior Center will get the federal dollars it needs to feed more than 800 individuals.

But during a conversation with Redwood Voice Community News last week, Mazzei, the senior center’s executive director, added a couple of caveats. One, things change every day, and two, the Area 1 Agency on Aging will contribute $96,000 to the program.

“That’s going to help a lot, but it really is kind of patching things together because we have no clue when the state is going to do anything with the CDBG,” she said. “They kind of do things in their own time. We can’t reliably say, as of this date, we’re going to have funding.”

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Articles, Community News, Emergencies, Health

‘We Need To Hear From People In Our Community’

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Thumbnail photo: Courtesy of the North Coast Rape Crisis Team

Amanda LeBlanc issued a call to action last week.

Appearing before the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors, the executive director of the North Coast Rape Crisis Team accepted a proclamation declaring April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. But with a $500,000 grant that pays for five sexual-assault response team nurses in Del Norte County at the mercy of the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze, LeBlanc urged local elected officials and other Del Norters to reach out to their state and national representatives.

“We’ve been told by our lobbying agencies that they are really sick of hearing from us because they understand that we like our jobs and we would like the funding,” she said. “We need to hear from people in our community who are not directly affected by these funds.”

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Articles, Community News, Health, Law

Law Enforcement Leaders Discuss Challenges When Responding To Non-Criminal Mental Health Calls; Del Norte’s PATH Crisis Team Launches With Limited Hours

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Thumbnail photo: Concept art of the Del Norte County’s Providing Access to Hope mobile mental health crisis response van. Above: Supervising Behavioral Health Specialist Mariah Coats and two of PATH’s team members, Certified Peer Support Specialist Ryan Downs and Behavioral health Specialist Aaron Matthess. | Photos courtesy of Shiann Hogan

Del Norte County’s Providing Access to Hope, or PATH, program has responded to 27 calls for help since it launched nearly two months ago.

In a majority of those cases, the staff manning the new mobile mental health crisis unit have helped those individuals come up with a safety plan and have followed up with those folks, Behavioral Health Branch Deputy Director Shiann Hogan told Redwood Voice Community News.

But, while it’s a resource anyone, including law enforcement, can call upon, PATH is currently only available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday due to staffing issues.

Continue reading Law Enforcement Leaders Discuss Challenges When Responding To Non-Criminal Mental Health Calls; Del Norte’s PATH Crisis Team Launches With Limited Hours →
Articles, Community News, Education, Health, Youth

DNUSD Spared From Cuts To USDA School Nutrition Programs

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Thumbnail photo: DNUSD’s Nutrition Services Department fresh fish tacos to Del Norte High School students last year courtesy of the Community Food Council’s Sea-to-Market program. | Photo courtesy of Michael Hawkins

(Updated at 8:27 a.m. to correct an error. Julie Carter Bjorkstrand, Del Norte Unified School District’s director of nutrition services, will travel to Sacramento as part of the California School Nutrition Association’s legislative action committee.)

Potential changes to a federal program that offers free meals to socio-economically disadvantaged schools will impact 2.4 million Californian students, but those in Del Norte County won’t be among them, according to Julie Carter Bjorkstrand.

Bjorkstrand, Del Norte Unified School District’s director of nutrition services, also said that a $660 million cut to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food For Schools program won’t impact Del Norte schools.

“It’s actually not going to impact us because I didn’t apply for that grant,” she said. “I didn’t like the reporting. They didn’t have it fully fleshed out and so I didn’t feel all that comfortable applying for it.”

Continue reading DNUSD Spared From Cuts To USDA School Nutrition Programs →
Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Education, Health

FRC Showers Moms with Gifts, Resources, and Support

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Video Courtesy of Monique Camarena

Expecting parents were showered with love, gifts, and resources at the Family Resource Center of the Redwoods’ semi-annual Community Baby Shower on March 15. Through the generosity of Crescent City Elks Lodge #1689 and many community partners, moms four months along or further were able to receive free diapers, diaper bags, baby wipes, books, food, information, and much more.

Along with diapers and diaper bags, the Elks Lodge donated car seats, strollers, playpens, and bouncers that would be up for raffle. RE/MAX Real Estate donated beautifully decorated diaper cakes that would also be raffled off.

  • Photos Courtesy of Family Resource Center of the Redwoods via Facebook
  • Photos Courtesy of Family Resource Center of the Redwoods via Facebook
  • Photos Courtesy of Family Resource Center of the Redwoods via Facebook
  • Photos Courtesy of Family Resource Center of the Redwoods via Facebook
Continue reading FRC Showers Moms with Gifts, Resources, and Support →
Articles, Community News, Health, Youth

Del Norte Service Providers Are In Limbo Over The Federal Dollars That Feed Seniors, Support Foster Youth And Make Accessing Healthcare Easier

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Thumbnail: Del Norte County service providers worry about the fate of federal dollars that fund nutritious meals for senior citizens, advocates for foster youth and easier access to healthcare for those who are homeless. | Photo by Persephone Rose

Charlaine Mazzei says the uncertainty surrounding whether or not the federal dollars her organization relies on is more worrying than a freeze itself.

Mazzei is the executive director for the Del Norte Senior Center and Del Norte Mission Possible. Part of the Community Action Partnership of Del Norte, those organizations rely on federal dollars to feed and house the elderly and provide access to healthcare for individuals experiencing homelessness. 

All told, the Community Action Partnership receives $2.15 to $2.4 million in federal dollars annually to provide those services. Without more definitive information about the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze federal grant funding, Mazzei says it’s difficult to plan for their potential loss.

“If you told me your program’s going to get a 20 percent cut, I can plan for that,” she told Redwood Voice Community News last week. “If we say this program’s going away, it’s not going to be fun, but I can plan for that. I don’t know how to plan for, ‘We don’t know what’s going on.’”

Continue reading Del Norte Service Providers Are In Limbo Over The Federal Dollars That Feed Seniors, Support Foster Youth And Make Accessing Healthcare Easier →
Articles, Community News, Health

The State of Support Services in Del Norte County is Lacking

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Update at 2/24/25 4:00PM: This article has been edited to differentiate between In Home Supportive Services and the Redwood Coast Regional Center, which are two separate entities.

For Kenna Gavin, area director of the Special Olympics for Del Norte County, answers to IHSS-related questions are hard to come by. She said she’s had to fight for the bare minimum. 

“They want you to give up, sadly a lot of [the clients] do.” Gavin told Redwood Voice.  In order to access IHSS there is “a book of paperwork that you have to get just right, or you’ll be denied care.”

Gavin has been seeking In Home Supportive Services, or IHSS care, for her daughter Skyler,  since she was very young. Skyler, 24, has Down syndrome. 

The first time Gavin tried, the paperwork was too much and she gave up. Now that her daughter is an adult, in order for Gavin to retain conservatorship, they have had to seek the services of both the Redwood Coast Regional Center and IHSS. 

Continue reading The State of Support Services in Del Norte County is Lacking →
Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Health

Del Norte Open Door Community Health Center Showcases New State-of-the-Art Mobile Clinic

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Thumbnail, video, and photos by Redwood Voice Reporter Aisling Bludworth.

Del Norte Open Door Community Health Center showcased their new state-of-the-art Mobile Clinic to the community at an open house on February 12th.

With a history of mobile services spanning over 50 years, Open Door’s newest addition is providing outreach in Del Norte County, with a current focus on the homeless community. Funded through the Health Resources and Services Administration-American Rescue Plan Act grant, anyone is able to walk into this mobile clinic and receive medical care.

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