LA Voz de la Comunidad, continuing its focus on building protection in the lives of our Latino youth, began a new Mental Health Awareness Training program funded by SAMHSA Centers for Mental Health Services in 2023.  The program implements the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) curriculum.   LA Voz is the only agency in the State of Louisiana conducting MHFA in Spanish targeting our Latino workforce.

MHFA aims to break down stigmas and bridge gaps in terms of asking for or seeking help when a person is suffering from mental illness.  Within Latino communities you will find cultural norms that support the negative stigma associated with mental illness and a severe lack of access to mental health services.

Juan Forero, Biologist and Professor, with more than 15 years of experience working directly with the community, is LA Voz’s Lead Trainer in MHFA. Mr. Forero provides a culturally competent experience to our Latino communities in the New Orleans Metropolitan area.  As an immigrant and peer, Mr. Forero’s trainings aim to increase the understanding within our Latino workforce of the importance of identifying the mental health indicators for themselves, their family, their co-workers and social environment in general, so that interventions such as referrals to treatment can be realized.

LA Voz partners with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, El Faro, Congress of Baptist Pastors and the Jefferson Parish Public Schools ESL department in order to help our Spanish speaking professionals who touch the lives of our Latino residents in identifying and referring individuals to mental health services.

LA Voz aims to increase Latino access to mental health services by building our Latino community’s capacity to identify, refer and treat mental illness.  If you are interested to learn more about our MHFA services please visit our Social Networks or you can write Mr Forero at juan@lavoznola.com, or send a Whatsapp message to (504) 6775897.