Happy March! Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021 is National Teen Wellness Day! We hope you take a moment out of your day to check in on your loved ones. Rates of anxiety, depression, and other mental ailments are on the rise–the best thing we can do is pay attention and be there for our teens in need!

WORK FROM HOME UPDATE 

When we first closed our offices in March 2020 and shifted to a telehealth model of care, we anticipated our offices would be closed for just two weeks. If only we knew then what we know now! 
Despite the many challenges and hurdles involved with shifting our entire delivery model, we have been so proud of the flexibility and determination of our staff. They remain deeply committed to ensuring our clients’ needs are met. We can’t wait to return to the office for in-person service but, until then, our staff is making the most of working from home. 

Our weekly basic-needs delivery program continues as our clients still face unemployment, food insecurity, and high-rates of covid diagnoses.
Give $5 today to provide food and other essentials to a family in need >>

In the News

Last month, Renato Perez, the manager of Amanecer’s Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) program, spoke with Claudia Carrera of Univision about the impact of school closures on children’s mental health. 

Check out their conversation here >>

Client Spotlight

Lucas, age 8, was struggling with controlling his emotions. He regularly threw tantrums and was missing a lot of school, resulting in an intervention by the Department of Child and Family Services. His mother was overwhelmed; she had three other children and Lucas’ outbursts were tough on the whole family.

Lucas’ wraparound treatment team taught him techniques to better understand his emotions so that he could feel more in control of them, leading to far fewer tantrums. His treatment team also assisted his mother with support in navigating the school system and fostering a relationship with Lucas’ teacher. They were also able to assist his mother with enrolling in parenting classes as well as accessing mental health treatment for herself.

Lucas, his mother, and his siblings all report that things feel much more calm and stable at home. Lucas also reports loving going to school now, especially math class. 

Support from community members like you allow us to make sure families like Lucas have what they need to thrive and experience healthier, happier futures. 

Staff Spotlight

Nancy has worked as a parent partner in the Wraparound program at Amanecer for 4 years. She loves that her job allows her to help parents and caregivers with support and guidance. Outside of work, she loves to spend time with her family and create new adventures during this unusual time. Her most recent “adventure” is letting her family pick recipes from Youtube that she tries to recreate. 

Thanks for all you do to help Amanecer’s clients, Nancy! 

Donor Spotlight

Omar Lopez, co-owner of Candela La Brea, is on his second fundraiser selling CandeLA t-shirts to support Amanecer. Last time, he raised $1,150 to benefit our comprehensive mental health care services. Thanks, Omar, for your dedication to helping families in need! If you want to get your own CandeLA t-shirt, check out Omar here on Instagram. 

Starting a grassroots fundraiser is such an easy way to support the critical services Amanecer provides to LA’s most vulnerable residents.
You can create a personalized fundraiser on our platform Give Lively or create one through Facebook by clicking below. 
 
 
 

Monthly Meditation

Studies show that a regular meditation practice can significantly reduce the density of brain tissue associated with anxiety and worrying. Meditation has also been shown to increase one’s sense of wellbeing and ability to focus. Below is a meditation prompt to get you started:

Sit in the easy meditation pose or far forwards on a chair. Feel that you are sitting straight, active but still relaxed. Your shoulders are relaxing, your jaw is relaxing. Your eyes are closed and your hands are resting in a comfortable position.

Picture you are walking up and down a small set of stairs with four steps. You are breathing in four steps up, breathing out four steps down. Give yourself time. You decide how slowly you wish to climb the stairs, and it is always the same stairway up and down. The next stairs can have longer steps, but you have chosen the stairs “up” so you take the same stairs “down” before changing stairs. It is usual for the stairs to get longer and longer.  

If you have a lot of thoughts in your head, it can be worth focusing, using a concentration technique like a mantra, for instance. Try to think SA-TA-NA-MA linked to your four breaths in and the same with your four breaths out.

Continue for 10 minutes.

End by taking a deep breath in. Feel that you are taking in everything you need, hold it for a moment. Breathe out and relax.
Sit quietly for a few moments before you gently return to everyday life again.

This is a meditation that reduces stress and improves oxygenation.

Meditation source can be found here