Grant helps HealthFinders expand mental health services

A $200,000 grant is helping the HealthFinders Collaborative expand mental health services and cultural competency training.

HealthFinders, which serves low-income people in Rice and Steele counties, recently received a $200,000 grant from the Medica Foundation.

HealthFinders Executive Director Charlie Mandile said the funds are being used to hire counselors and will be used to offer culturally sensitive training opportunities to community groups and work to reduce the stigma about mental illness.

The nonprofit has clinics in Northfield, Faribault and Owatonna that provide medical, dental and mental health care all under one roof. More than three-fourths of the organization's patients are Latino and Somali immigrants and their families.

The grant will help HealthFinders continue to work toward filling the shortage of mental health service accessibility in the region, Mandile said. Last year HealthFinders provided mental health services to about 60 people. They hope to double the number this year.

"Medica is a longtime partner, and with their support we are able to build out this program to meet the needs our patients have identified,'' Mandile said.

HealthFinders recently hired two additional counselors, one of whom specializes in alcohol and drug addiction. The counselors will see patients at all three sites.

The organization hopes to add additional mental health staff and case workers in the months to come, Mandile said.

The grant also will allow the organization to add a trauma-informed curriculum to its Intercultural Effectiveness Seminar. The cultural competency training is available to any organization, business or other group in the region and thus far has trained over 1,000 people.

HealthFinders also is planning a storytelling initiative that will invite community members to share about their mental health journeys. The goal will be to reduce stigma over mental health issues.

The Medica Foundation is the charitable giving arm of the Medica health insurance provider.

"The Medica Foundation is grateful for its relationship with HealthFinders and appreciative of its commitment to ensuring everyone has access to culturally appropriate, high quality mental health care," foundation Executive Director JoAnn Birkholz said in a statement.