Program Spotlight: Behavior Education And Treatment (BEAT)
In recognition of National LGBT Health Awareness Week, a week-long observance to bring awareness to the unique health needs and disparities of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, we’d like to introduce the newest addition to the WestCare California family of programs, Behavior Education And Treatment (BEAT)!
BEAT works with those who are HIV positive or at risk of contracting the virus and have a substance abuse disorder. This can include but is not limited to:
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) individuals, primarily racial/ethnic minorities who identify as Young Men Who Have Sex With Men (YMSM)
• Intravenous drug users
• Individuals involved in risky behaviors such as sex industry work, unprotected sex and human trafficking
The goal of the program is to reduce the link between substance abuse and the transmission of HIV while empowering those that we serve through the program to live drug free, healthy and productive lives. Program results will be achieved through outreach, testing, referrals and a combination of residential and outpatient treatment and sober living as well as support with locating stable housing.
Program Information and Presentations:
Jessica Underwood, Program Coordinator
(559) 237-3420 Ext. 20322
Program Admissions:
Belmont Health and Wellness
611 E. Belmont
Fresno, CA 93701
(559) 237-3420
For over 40 years, WestCare California has been providing an opportunity for individuals to lead fuller, richer lives. Our team of multi-cultural, experienced and credentialed staff is dedicated to providing the best care to everyone who enters our doors. Our goal is to uplift the human spirit by providing the skills and support necessary for individuals to achieve their dreams and transform their lives.
WestCare provides a wide spectrum of health and human services in both residential and outpatient environments. Our service domains include mental health & wellness, substance abuse and addiction treatment, housing opportunities, education & prevention, criminal justice and veterans programs. These services are available to adults, children, adolescents and families.
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A Day Reporting Center Success Story: Megan
“Megan (Name changed for confidentiality) is a prime example of someone who refuses to give up. After having spent 23 years in prison, she was released and then shortly after, was diagnosed with Cancer. Not only did she not let her time spent in prison keep her down, she beat her cancer after multiple surgeries and rounds of medication that would make many of us want to give up. Megan’s more recent battle however was finding housing for herself. After being approved by the Fresno Housing Authority for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, the struggle of being approved for an apartment was a daunting task. We all know how frustrating the application process can be, not to mention costly with all the application fees. It was not easy, but after a couple of months, she was approved and recently moved into her new apartment! But that is not all. It was not just Megan who got a new home. We had a kitty, loved by many of the staff here at the Belmont Health & Wellness facility that she adopted and now has a forever home for as well. We are very proud of Megan here at the Day Reporting Center program. She is a perfect example of not giving up and finding happiness despite what life throws at you.” – Edan Keven, Placement Coordinator, WestCare California’s Day Reporting Center
For over 40 years, WestCare California has been providing an opportunity for individuals to lead fuller, richer lives. Our team of multi-cultural, experienced and credentialed staff is dedicated to providing the best care to everyone who enters our doors. Our goal is to uplift the human spirit by providing the skills and support necessary for individuals to achieve their dreams and transform their lives.
WestCare provides a wide spectrum of health and human services in both residential and outpatient environments. Our service domains include mental health & wellness, substance abuse and addiction treatment, housing opportunities, education & prevention, criminal justice and veterans programs. These services are available to adults, children, adolescents and families.
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Hanford Veteran Finds Success After Reentry
We’d like to share a letter written to our staff by the brother of Tony, a Veteran who was released from prison in August with no place to go. The day after his release, he came to our San Joaquin Valley Veterans (SJVV) office in Hanford, CA and was immediately housed by their staff and shortly after, was enrolled into school to obtain his trucking license! In December, he was discharged from the program having exceeded the requirements from earned income! He has since done extremely well for himself since he first stepped through our doors. We are proud so of all his hard work! Congratulations, Tony!
“Hi Stephanie,
I wanted to share these photos with you. I am so proud of my brother and the progress [that] he has accomplished in such a short period of time. I thank God for watching over him, because only God could create all the milestones in his life to date. I thank you too for being a great support mentor and I know he has great respect for you and your staff at WestCare. Your organization’s name says it all. You CARE.”
With great respect,
Steven L.
For over 40 years, WestCare California has been providing an opportunity for individuals to lead fuller, richer lives. Our team of multi-cultural, experienced and credentialed staff is dedicated to providing the best care to everyone who enters our doors. Our goal is to uplift the human spirit by providing the skills and support necessary for individuals to achieve their dreams and transform their lives.
WestCare provides a wide spectrum of health and human services in both residential and outpatient environments. Our service domains include mental health & wellness, substance abuse and addiction treatment, housing opportunities, education & prevention, criminal justice and veterans programs. These services are available to adults, children, adolescents and families.
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Ten VSWP Veterans Graduate from the Fresno City College Police Academy
Our Veterans Safeway to Work Program (VSWP) made possible by the Safeway Foundation and Vons Foundation and offered by San Joaquin Valley Veterans (SJVV), a project of WestCare California, provides vocational assistance to Veterans in need of supplies or training for their desired profession. We’d like to share an update for ten of our VSWP Vets who graduated from Fresno City College’s State Center Regional Training Facility (SCRTF) Police Academy this past December!
On December 11, 2017, we were proud to see ten of our Veterans served by our VSWP program be a part of the 148th graduating class of the SCRTF police academy at Fresno City College! Prior to their graduation, they have all found employment with local law enforcement agencies (Fresno and Madera Police Department and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office).
It is our honor to say that this is our first class of Veterans that are graduating after their time with VSWP! We treated our grads to a dinner where they shared with our Deputy Administrator of Community-Based Programs, Lynn Pimentel, their personal backgrounds, what led them to choose this career path and how VSWP assisted them in their quest of becoming police officers. We are beaming with pride for all that they have accomplished and know that they will continue to make us proud while they make a positive difference within the communities that they serve!
For over 40 years, WestCare California has been providing an opportunity for individuals to lead fuller, richer lives. Our team of multi-cultural, experienced and credentialed staff is dedicated to providing the best care to everyone who enters our doors. Our goal is to uplift the human spirit by providing the skills and support necessary for individuals to achieve their dreams and transform their lives.
WestCare provides a wide spectrum of health and human services in both residential and outpatient environments. Our service domains include mental health & wellness, substance abuse and addiction treatment, housing opportunities, education & prevention, criminal justice and veterans programs. These services are available to adults, children, adolescents and families.
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The Women of San Diego CCTRP Grow Together
We have the pleasure of operating two Custody to Community Transitional Reentry Programs (CCTRP) in Stockton and San Diego, California. These nine month to two year programs serve female offenders with up to two years left on their sentence in a community setting rather than in the institution while providing them the skills that they need to reenter society successfully and succeed in the future upon their release from the program. We’d like to share a letter written by the women that we serve at our San Diego CCTRP program about a wonderful project that they began in March of 2017 and have since maintained during their time with the program, a community garden!
“Hello everyone,
It is the ladies down in beautiful San Diego, California of CCTRP! We want to share with all of you our latest expansion of our garden!
We currently have an array of different veggies growing such as tomatoes, artichokes, summer squash, pumpkins and a small patch of purple basil as well as some beautiful sunflowers and 4 o’clock flowers! The summer attraction for our sunflowers has brought about 6-8 sets of wild parrots that bask in the sun and munch on the seeds. Now, the summer crop is rapidly coming to an end. We are looking forward to donations and supplies so that we can produce fall and winter vegetation.
This experience has been therapeutic for the clients. It has brought us together on a team building and community level. During visits, families have the opportunity to plant, water and nurture the plants as they grow. This is parallel to the healing process of family re-unification.
Our goal is to continue to get more clients and their families involved. Each client has an opportunity to get educated about gardening as well as take the experience home to be incorporated as a viable coping skill.
Our hope is to be able to maintain this process for future clients by utilizing the latest techniques in gardening such as raised planters (ex.: Bed Building), water conservation and easy maintenance for the future of the garden, ultimately resulting in less work, low costs and more success. We also have a compost pile which we designed and utilize with the veggie and fruit crops to fertilize our garden. We look forward to what more we can do in our garden; working, growing and learning toward a brighter future together as a community!”
With Love,
The Women of San Diego CCTRP
For over 40 years, WestCare California has been providing an opportunity for individuals to lead fuller, richer lives. Our team of multi-cultural, experienced and credentialed staff is dedicated to providing the best care to everyone who enters our doors. Our goal is to uplift the human spirit by providing the skills and support necessary for individuals to achieve their dreams and transform their lives.
WestCare provides a wide spectrum of health and human services in both residential and outpatient environments. Our service domains include mental health & wellness, substance abuse and addiction treatment, housing opportunities, education & prevention, criminal justice and veterans programs. These services are available to adults, children, adolescents, and families.
Share this:
A Veterans Safeway to Work Program (VSWP) Update from Kenneth R.
Our Veterans Safeway to Work Program (VSWP) made possible by the Safeway Foundation and Vons Foundation and offered by San Joaquin Valley Veterans (SJVV), a project of WestCare California, provides vocational assistance to Veterans in need of supplies or training for their desired profession. We’d like to share a letter written by a Veteran that we serve to our wonderful staff that helped him find his upcoming job with the Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital!
“Greetings brother Combs,
I just wanted to inform you that as of September 3, 2017, I will be working at the VA Hospital full-time. I was offered a position in the laundry room once I completed the Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) program with the VA. I want to thank Denis and you for all of the time and hard work that you both invested in me. You both gave me opportunities when nobody else did. You looked beyond my legal issues and saw me for the man that I am. I am thankful to have you guys in my life; you are blessings to me. I will always keep in contact with you both just to let you know how I am doing. You both kept me motivated and my head looking to the sky.
If it was not for Denis telling me how the Veterans Safeway to Work Program (VSWP) could assist me, I would probably still be unemployed. Denis has a lot of knowledge that can benefit Veterans. I am also thankful that he told me about the CWT program and was an advocate for me getting into that program. VSWP allowed me to purchase the necessary items that I needed for work and got me to my first paycheck by purchasing me a full tank of gas.
If you can pass this message along to the individuals who provided the funding from Safeway: You do not know how blessed I am to have you help the unemployed Veterans that live in the Fresno/Madera area. I know I am not the only one you did this for, but I truly want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You gave me life again. You confirmed to me that everything is going to be alright because there are people that truly care about Veterans.”
– Kenneth R.
For over 40 years, WestCare California has been providing an opportunity for individuals to lead fuller, richer lives. Our team of multi-cultural, experienced and credentialed staff is dedicated to providing the best care to everyone who enters our doors. Our goal is to uplift the human spirit by providing the skills and support necessary for individuals to achieve their dreams and transform their lives.
WestCare provides a wide spectrum of health and human services in both residential and outpatient environments. Our service domains include mental health & wellness, substance abuse and addiction treatment, housing opportunities, education & prevention, criminal justice and veterans programs. These services are available to adults, children, adolescents, and families.
