Encompass Community Services
We did it! On Friday, June 21st, we officially broke ground on the new, state-of-the-art Sí Se Puede Behavioral Health Center at 161 Miles Lane in Watsonville. With over 150 guests in attendance including government officials, Encompass staff, community partners, and graduates of the Sí Se Puede program, it was a special event celebrating this important milestone for our agency.
“Today, we are recognizing an incredible milestone. A dream becoming a reality.”, exclaimed Monica Martinez, Encompass CEO and MC of the event. The event celebrated the program’s rich history with tables displaying memorabilia and artifacts from the past 30 years, photos commemorating the program’s impact displayed on easels throughout the tent (special thanks to Jessica Powell), and the presence of many graduates and founders who came out to celebrate the milestone.
After Monica welcomed everyone, Patrick Orozco, Tribal Leader of the Ohlone Native American Tribe, blessed and dedicated the land, followed by remarks from our invited speakers: Jorge Guiterrez, Sí Se Puede’s current Program Manager, Gabriel Tapia, Program Clinical Counselor and graduate of the program, John Laird, California State Senator District 17, Felipe Hernandez, 4th District Supervisor, Santa Cruz County, Michael Schrader, CEO, Central California Alliance for Health (CCAH), and Elaine Johnson, Chair of the Encompass Board of Trustees.
The event concluded with special individual recognition to the many individuals and community partners who helped make this day possible, followed by the official “dig” to symbolize that construction has begun.
The History of Sí Se Puede
The Sí Se Puede program began over 30 years ago when a group of Latinx men recognized that there was no place for their community to recover and heal. So, together, they founded the first bilingual treatment program in Watsonville and they called the space “Sí Se Puede”, meaning “Yes, you can” in Spanish. The Latino founders also recognized the tribal history here on the native land, and incorporated native practices into the residents’ recovery including a sweat lodge and other Native American customs.
The New Behavioral Health Center
The upcoming Sí Se Puede Behavioral Health Center is projected to deliver high-quality, accessible, and personalized substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health treatment to more than 1,300 community members a year. The new campus will allow Encompass to meet every individual where they are in their recovery journey through connected programs with varying levels of care – from residential and outpatient treatment to family therapy – all in an atmosphere of dignity and respect where those seeking treatment can thrive.
The capital project includes the construction of 2 buildings on the site: a Residential Center and an Outpatient Treatment Center. The Residential Center is a 7,766 square foot 30-bed residential treatment building featuring group and one-on-one therapy rooms, a medical clinic, an industrial kitchen, spacious dining and recreational areas, a client intake room, a client computer use space, designated exercise areas, and an outdoor courtyard. The Residential Center will also offer services to the Transition Age Youth (TAY) population, which is new, thanks to funding to support youth provided by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). The Outpatient Treatment Center is designed to be a 3,864 square program building including a medical clinic and numerous therapy and treatment spaces. Both facilities will be welcoming spaces to continue to lift up the culture that has been celebrated here for decades.
Encompass also partnered with Mid-Pen Housing, one of our areas most respected and trusted affordable housing developers, so that the property will also include 75 units of affordable housing next door to our Center.
The timing couldn’t be more urgent, as we continue to see a dramatic rise in opioid and fentanyl related overdoses and deaths. This culturally appropriate, high-quality, evidence-based program will truly save lives.
Thank you to our Community Partners
Our Sí Se Puede Behavioral Health Center project is being funded through a BHCIP grant (the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program through the California Department of Health Care Services) as well as through a variety of additional sources, including generous philanthropists, and public and private grants from the Central California Alliance for Health, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, The City of Watsonville, and Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. Funding is still needed to fully outfit Encompass’s new center. Anyone interested in supporting the project or learning more can visit www.sisepuedecenter.org or contact [email protected].
Thank you to Local Press Partners Attending the Event
Santa Cruz Sentinel
California Department of Health Care Services
https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/formsandpubs/publications/oc/Pages/2024/24-19-BHCIP-Watsonville.aspx
The Pajaronian
https://pajaronian.com/si-se-puede-breaks-ground-for-new-facility/
KION News
Noticias Central Coast