NJAMHAA FY23 Advocacy Campaign

Investment Is Needed to Ensure Julio and Many Others Receive the Support They Need • Annualize the costs of the initial and subsequent cohorts of community-based mobile crisis teams. • Invest $10 million to fully support Psychiatric Emergency Screening Services’ mobile outreach. Compassionate Partners Are Key to Realizing Dreams once Unimaginable Julio Rodriguez considers his greatest accomplishment to be overcoming drug and alcohol addictions, which had affected his health, relationships, work and faith. Now, he is a proud grandfather, which he expresses gratitude for because at one time, he did not expect to live long enough to experience this. Julio went to Hispanic Family Center of Southern NJ in 2017 after completing substance use treatment. He was taking care of his mom, who was elderly and blind, and he took in his son Jose, whom he was estranged from for many years and who also experienced the negative consequences of drug use. “I decided I was going to be the father I never had and provide Jose with boundaries, support and love,” Julio said. His son is nowworking and married and has two young children. “Julio is a positive role model for his children despite experiencing low moods and anxiety. What helps him manage is the faith he learned from his parents and the love of his family,” said his clinician, Sonia Martinez, LSW. “People stay with us for a long time. They have chronic depression, substance use disorders and other challenges. I am proud to give them support and resources,” Sonia said. “I’m like a mother and grandmother figure. Connecting with individuals on a personal level --that’s howwe all work here. We are strengths based. We reinforce the positive aspects and resilience the individuals we serve have.” 14 H   Julio Rodriguez is a proud grandfather, which he expresses gratitude for because at one time, he did not expect to live long enough to experience this. Sonia Martinez, LSW Counselor Hispanic Family Center of Southern NJ