Behavioral Health Equity Challenge Winners Showcase

October 11, 2023 | 3:00pm - 4:30pm EDT

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Office of Behavioral Health Equity (OBHE) invites you to join the second Behavioral Health Equity Challenge Winners Showcase on Wednesday, October 11 at 3:00-4:30 pm EDT. After the success of the first Showcase in September, we organized this second event in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month! During the Behavioral Health Equity Challenge Winners Showcase Part II, four of the ten Challenge winners — all serving the Hispanic/Latinx community — will share their innovative strategies, lessons learned from implementation, and recommendations for replication in other communities. CBOs, state and federal leaders, and behavioral health leaders are invited to join the Showcase to learn from and engage in Q&A with these Challenge Winners.

Earlier this year, SAMHSA launched the “Behavioral Health Equity Challenge: Outreach and Engagement Strategies for Underserved Racial and Ethnic Communities” with the goal of identifying and highlighting outreach and engagement strategies community-based organizations (CBOs) use to increase access to behavioral health services for racially and ethnically diverse, underserved communities.

To see the previously hosted Challenge Winner Showcase, visit NNEDShare.

The event will also be shared on Facebook Live at fb.com/nned.net and closed captioning will be available through Zoom.

Challenge Winner Presenters

Comunilife

Rosa M. Gil, DSW

Founder, President, and CEO
Comunilife, Inc.
(212) 219-1618
info@Comunilife.org

Dr. Rosa M. Gil, Comunilife’s Founder, President and CEO, has had a distinguished career in New York City’s health, mental health, higher education, social service and supportive housing development sectors. At Comunilife, she has developed 3,059 units of affordable and supportive housing for the City’s hardest to reach residents. Under her leadership, Comunilife started Life is Precious™, a nationally recognized program for Latina teens at risk of suicide and opened Premier Medical Respite Program. Dr. Gil has been appointed to numerous Federal, State and City commissions and boards including Federal Reserve Bank of New York Board of Directors (Deputy Chair), NYS Suicide Prevention Council, Board of Health (NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene), The Commission of Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century (The Berger Commission). Dr. Gil is a member of the President Carter Mental Health Task Force and the Board of Trustees of EmblemHealth.

In addition to her tenure at Comunilife, Dr. Gil was, among many positions, the Chairperson of the NYC Health and Hospital Corporation, Health Policy Advisor to the Mayor, Executive Director of Woodhull Medical Center and Metropolitan Hospital, Executive Deputy Commissioner for Families and Children Services at the NYC Human Resources Administration and the University Dean for Health Sciences at CUNY. She is one of the founders of the Urban Institute for Behavioral Health of New York City, Latino Commission on AIDS, the Association of Hispanic Mental Health Professionals and 100 Hispanic Women.

Dr. Gil has published numerous articles on mental health, ethnicity, and child welfare and gender issues.  She is the co-author of the “Maria Paradox,” the first authoritative book on self-esteem and Hispanic women.

Ser Familia

Maria Paula Munevar

Case Manager Supervisor
Ser Familia, Inc.
(678) 363-3079
mmunevar@serfam.org

Maria Paula Munevar is from Bogota, Colombia. A psychologist from the Antonio Nariño University, as well as a Specialist in Human Development Management and Corporate Social Welfare and Master in Corporate Social Management from the Externado de Colombia University, with experience in the public and private sectors in aspects such as design, execution, and evaluation of processes, administrative and human resources, registration, and monitoring of management indicators and KPI’s, customer service and follow-up, budget control, continuous improvement skills, as well as teaching experience at the Minuto de Dios University in the psychology program including professional practices and areas such as entrepreneurship and employment. She is currently doing the process of becoming certified as a Life Coach because she likes to be part of the change with each word and resource provided that makes an echo in every person to find meaning in human relationships.

Centro de Ayuda y Esperanza Latina Inc.

Christina Mancebo-Torres, MPH

Assistant Director
Centro de Ayuda y Esperanza Latina Inc.
(774) 400-0897
christina.mancebo@cael-nb.org

Christina Mancebo-Torres, MPH is the Assistant Director at Centro de Ayuda y Esperanza Latina, Inc., a Latino-serving non-profit organization located in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She also serves as the Director of Research at Casa Esperanza, a clinical behavioral health center in Boston. Prior to taking on these roles, Christina served the National Hispanic and Latino Prevention Technology Transfer Center as a Program Specialist. Christina is currently pursuing her PhD in Health Sciences with a specialization in Trauma-Informed Care and holds a Master’s degree in Public Health, and graduate certificates in Epidemiology and Global Health. Christina is an advocate for community-based approaches to addressing issues like trauma, mental health, and substance misuse, especially for immigrant and non-English speaking communities.

Camden Coalition

Mouy Van Galen, LSSBB

Senior Program Manager for Clinical Redesign Initiatives
Camden Coalition
(856) 272-1123
mvangalen@camdenhealth.org

Mouy Van Galen serves as Senior Program Manager for Clinical Redesign Initiatives. In her role, she manages the design, implementation, and quality improvement efforts for clinical workflows, as well as activation of the Camden Coalition Health Information Exchange (HIE). She plays an instrumental role in the partner-facing operations of the Camden Coalition’s Pledge to Connect program, which is a regional effort to improve transitions of care to outpatient behavioral health services from the emergency department. In previous work, Mouy led pilots around electronic health records (EHR) and documentation strategies in a variety of healthcare settings with the goal of improving clinical workflows to create a better patient experience. She is trained in Lean Six Sigma Black Belt at Drexel University and holds a BS in Biology and Project Management Certificate from Temple University.