Page 22 - Sonoma County Gazette May 2020

ONE Immigrant Among Many Serving Our Sick in the Age of COVID-19
Mental Health Warm Line
How are you? No, really — how are you?
If you are struggling, please know that the County has launched a mental health “warm line” to offer support for emotional stress and anxiety. It’s available seven days a week to support people experiencing emotional stress and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The warm line is available to any Sonoma County resident experiencing emotional side effects of the pandemic and/or the shelter in place order, or knows somebody who is.
Call 707.565.2652 10 a - 7p daily to speak with a trained professional.
This FREE and PRIVATE warm line is available seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Service in Spanish is also available as well as telephone interpretation for other languages. Local behavioral health professionals will answer calls seven days a week to talk with callers to provide support, guidance, education, and referrals.
Callers may also request that an outreach call
be made to someone they are concerned about, which will help to reach people who are isolated, lonely and who may not reach out on their own.
“Being at home for an extended period of time can make some people feel anxious and alone,” said Bill Carter, Behavioral Health Director. “The mental health warm line is here so a person can talk to someone about their concerns. Counselors are standing by to provide support to people during this tough time.”
Callers can speak to a trained professional who will listen and provide useful guidance to feel better. Callers will also receive information about resources and social services currently available in the County for an array of needs including emotional issues such as depression, grief, and anger; parenting support, substance use; shelter needs; and more.
Immigrants are among the many now fighting on the front lines of the corona virus epidemic: in hospital emergency rooms and ICUs, nursing homes and acute-care facilities, and emergency medical teams across the country. More than 3 million immigrants work in the U.S. health care system, accounting for about 1 in 4 workers in that field, according to research by Harvard Medical School. Approximately 29% of all doctors are foreign-
born and 23% of all nurses and nurse’s assistants, according to the American Medical Association.
One of these immigrants is Leonor Carreno—a certified nurse’s assistant (CNA) in Sonoma County. Leonor has had a particularly difficult immigrant path – including being jailed and almost deported -- simply for getting a CNA license without having a green card. After years of fighting deportation, she gained her legal status. And now like many other immigrants across our country, Leonor is caring for elderly and sick Americans-- those most at risk from the deadly corona virus.
Children of essential workers
Leonor is a native of Oaxaca, a beautiful but impoverished part of southern Mexico with a large indigenous population. She made the long perilous journey to the United States with her three-year-old son in 1998. They crossed the border near Calexico without papers, at a time when our borders were easier to pass through. The two joined her husband in Petaluma, where she still lives today.
are eligible to enroll in subsidized Emergency Childcare, subject to capacity, if all of the
following apply:
• The family works as an essential worker (If the family includes a two-
Leonor went to work on a farm at first, working long hours at low wages
to help her family survive. At nights she learned English and studied for the CNA exam, which she took and passed in 2002. Leonor began to work at a post-acute care facility and worked a second job on nights and weekends as a caregiver in private homes.
parent household, both parents/caregivers must either be essential workers or the other parent must be unable to provide care for the child due to incapacitation.)
• The family requires childcare to perform their essential work
• The family is not able to complete their work remotely • The family assets do not exceed $1,000,000
A second son was born two years later. Her life was demanding, with two children and two jobs, but the future looked bright.
Please call 707-869-3613 to talk with a Family Case Manager
to get help paying for your child care and finding appropriate child care. Families looking for child care can find accurate and up-to-date child care provider information for essential workers at MyChildCare.ca.gov - or call
IMMIGRANT cont’d on page 23
707-869-3613 or info@rccservices.org. River to Coast Children’s Services
Here’s her story: Leonor’s immigrant journey
22 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 5/20