Project overview: Combat mental health challenges among employees and families who live and work in Yosemite by expanding telehealth care, piloting biweekly clinician response teams, and creating a peer support program.

How your support helps: Employees and families who live and work in Yosemite National Park face behavioral health challenges tied to isolation, job insecurity, trauma exposure, and more. A 2025 survey confirmed behavioral health as a top concern across the park, and yet, Yosemite remains a rural park with limited mental health services within 50 miles of the park’s boundaries. 

With mental health crises on a dramatic increase since 2020, the wellness needs of Yosemite’s people are at an all-time high. Staff from various departments and organizations — the National Park Service (NPS), Aramark, Balanced Rock, NatureBridge, The Ansel Adams Gallery, and other park partners — have expressed an interest in both mental health counselling options to address feelings of isolation and sense of not belonging that dampen employees’ ability to perform work tasks efficiently. 

To meet this need, the NPS and the Northern California Clinician Response Team (NCCRT) — in partnership with the Yosemite Medical Clinic — will invest in lasting, park-wide behavioral health infrastructure. This will include: five new telehealth rooms to connect employees and families with remote mental health providers; stress management workshops; peer support networks; and recurring mental health sessions with licensed clinicians. Together, these actions will ensure that all who live and work in Yosemite have equitable, trusted, and sustainable access to behavioral health care. 

This year: In 2026, we will launch the behavioral health resiliency program, expanding access to behavioral health services — including mentalhealth services — for employees and families in and around Yosemite National Park. With your support, this project will combine in-person sessions, telehealth access, peer connections, and embedded clinical services to fill a long-standing gap in the health and wellness of Yosemite’s people.

Project partners: Yosemite National Park; Northern California Clinician Response Team