Create a series of five to six visitor events throughout the...
Project overview: Supplement funding for affordable, professional mental health services, including crisis intervention and consultation, for park employees and residents.
How your support helps: Yosemite National Park is a rural area with no mental health services within 20+ miles of the park’s boundaries. Historically, one-on-one counseling services have been provided at no cost for all Yosemite Medical Clinic referrals and those who were self-referred. Between 2018 and 2023, more than 350 individuals have been seen through counseling services in Yosemite Valley and Mariposa. This has made mental health counseling affordable and accessible to those in need.
With mental health crisis situations on a dramatic increase since 2020, the mental health needs of the park far surpass the capacity of one part-time clinical counselor. To serve the community in a broader way, the behavioral health services will have a new focus on crisis intervention, psycho-education, and linkage to longer-term services.
Focusing on crisis response can limit the need for longer term counseling needs in the future. Additionally, by assisting individuals in finding more sustainable resources for mental health care, they can receive treatment sooner than the extensive waiting list allows (often two to three months out, due to limited funding and availability).
All park employees and residents would be able to benefit from having a professional mental health provider in the area and available for a park crisis or ongoing consultation and assisted linkage to resources.
This year: In 2024, your gifts will help underwrite the costs of providing professional mental health services via a professional, in-park clinical counselor for all employees and residents.
Project partner: Yosemite National Park