Mental Health Among Latinx immigrants in Kalamazoo: What People Are Doing About It

By: Maggie Drew - New/Nueva Opinion

Kalamazoo, MI - When Carmen Alcaraz moved to Kalamazoo in 2017, she came with hope of a new life filled with fresh opportunities. Instead, she was met with more challenges than she could’ve expected. Alcaraz was now in a country where she had not yet learned the language and lived far away from her family. She became isolated and sad – sometimes doubting that she made the right decision to immigrate to the United States. The isolation and pain she experienced made her realize she needed help with her mental health.

According to mhanation.org, 18.3% of the U.S. population identifies as Hispanic and/or Latinx. Of that group, 16% reported to have dealt with mental illness within the past year. That’s 10 million people.

While most people will one day face mental health challenges, immigrants are a facet of the population that encounter unique challenges that only those that share their experience can understand.

“I came here to get a better life, but when I came, I faced many barriers,” Alcaraz said. “The culture, the food, and the principal language were all completely different. It made me ask myself if I should go back to my country or not.”

“I came here to get a better life, but when I came, I faced many barriers,” Alcaraz said

Jesús Grillo - New/Nueva Opinión

When Alcaraz was deciding on whether to return to Mexico or not, she was recommended to speak to Roxana Almoncid de Sinn, a therapist whose counseling specializes in Spanish. Almoncid de Sinn is an immigrant herself; born and raised in Peru, she has firsthand dealt with the struggles caused by immigrating to a new country. She echoes Alcaraz, saying that immigrating can be a scary and isolating experience, describing that there are several barriers for immigrants when trying to find mental health counseling. Almoncid de Sin is one of the people trying to bridge that gap

“I think the principal challenge for immigrants right now are documents,” she said. “Many don’t have green cards; they feel afraid that people will ask them about it if they have their documents.”

Roxana Almoncid de Sinn, a therapist whose counseling specializes in Spanish.

Foto: Jesús Grillo - New/Nueva Opinión

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 19% of Hispanic people in 2018 had no form of health insurance. In addition to facing an already limited pool of providers due to language barriers, they have even fewer options when uninsured.

Almocid de Sinn also hopes she can eliminate the stigma in seeking mental health help.

“There’s a big stigma that getting help for mental health is just for crazy people, when that is not the case at tall,” she said. “I think it’s important that people know that we need a system and support for our issues,” she said. “it’s necessary, everyone needs emotional support. This pandemic has created more anxiety and stress, everyone needs someone to listen. It’s necessary to find someone, not family or friends, but to find professional help.”

Another place working on assisting the Latinx community with their mental health needs is Gryphon Place located in Kalamazoo. Gryphon Place is a non-profit organization that connects people with resources related to mental health and other needs they may have. They are a part both a 24/7 national suicide prevention hotline and a local 211 hotline, which is a number anyone can call to receive resources on food, clothing, or housing. Gryphon Place also provides suicide prevention workshops for 7th-9th graders in KPS schools. While they serve anyone in the community who needs them, they also work with many people of the Latinx community and provide many services in Spanish.

Serving the Latinx community is something Gryphon Place values highly; Marciela Alcalá, the C.E.O. of the organization, is a member of the community herself. Alcalá voices her concerns that there are not enough mental health services for the Latinx community, and she wants Gryphon Place to do all it can to meet that need.

Maricela Alcalá, CEO - Gryphon Place .

Foto: Proveída

“We are trying to find ways to bridge the gap and provide more accessibility to mental health resources for the Latinx community,” said Alcalá.

Every service that Gryphon Place offers is provided anonymously, and many of their services are free.

“There are a lot of stigmas and misconceptions around mental health and seeking treatment in our community,” she said. “I want everyone to know that mental health is just as important as physical health. A lot of conditions that Latinx people face are treatable, and that they are able to find treatment for it.”

Gryphon Place works closely with El Concilio, another Kalamazoo-based organization that provides their services in Spanish. El Concilio is a non-profit organization seeking to help the Latinx community in meeting whatever needs they may have. They provide translation and interpretation services, services for kids, and mental health counseling

Lizzette Mira-Maya is a social worker who provided counseling services for El Concilio for many years. She was a part of the organization since its beginning stages in the 1980s and now works for the Van Buren school district. Working with mainly Latinx clients, she knows and see the trauma many immigrants can face.

Mira-Maya also believes in the importance of having mental health services available in Spanish

Foto: Jesús Grillo - New/Nueva Opinión

“Many of the undocumented immigrants have faced lots of trauma,” she said. “Many women are raped on their way to the U.S., and many children are in abusive situations. Immigrants often are not paid for their work, working to only receive part of the money, and they are still dealing with the fact they had to leave their lives and families behind. Most times, they don’t want to go back because the situation in their home country was difficult, but they come here and are lost here as well.”

Mira-Maya also believes in the importance of having mental health services available in Spanish, saying that it will lead to people to finally seek help due to being able to talk to someone in their primary language.

“There is more need,” she said. “I haven’t retired yet because there is just a great need for more Latinx therapsits.”

Luis Valencia is a social worker for Bethan Christian Services located in Grand Rapids. He says, “The struggle is that we don’t have enough professionals that are bilingual. It’s hard because we always have to use an interpreter. We need more therapists who speak Spanish. I think we have good resources, but many are not promoted, so people don’t know about them. We don’t make any real promotions about the resources.”

Valencia works with children who immigrated to the U.S. without any family. The kids are from all over the world, but he does work with many people of the Latinx community. He says that the kids can also struggle with as many mental health issues as adults do.

“Most of them struggle with really low self-esteem. They don’t believe that they are smart enough or can achieve anything.”

Despite all of the mental health struggle immigrates face, Mira-Maya believes people within the Latinx community remain resilient as ever.

Gryphon Place, El Concilio, Bethany, and Roxana all vow to continue to help immigrants in the Kalamazoo area with their mental health and urge everyone to seek help when needed.

“There has to be different avenues of accessibility available, but with all that said, we will not give up,” says Alcalá.

Resources:

If you want to receive help for your mental health, there are many resources in the Kalamazoo area that offer services in Spanish.

To find more information, go to:

EL Concilio: https://elconciliokzoo.org/ or call 269-385-6279

Gryphon Place: (269) 381-1510 or the 211 hotline

Synergy Health center: synergykzoo.org or call 269-323-1954

Roxana A Almonacid de Sinn - Limited Licensed Psychologist, LPC (269) 215-4038