Portland, OR | December 11, 2018 - CAP is very pleased to announce it is a recipient of the $20,000 Finalist Award from Ninety-Nine Girlfriends.

The award will fund operational start-up of an LGBTQ+ Mental Health Program at Prism Health. Prism Health is an LGBTQ+ primary healthcare center that opened spring 2017 in southeast Portland.  The new LGBTQ+ Mental Health Program aims to dismantle mental health inequities in the community by delivering culturally responsive mental health care that addresses issues of depression, isolation, anxiety and stress. All these issues are seen at alarmingly high and disproportionate rates in the LGBTQ+ community.

Through the LGBTQ+ Mental Health Program we will create a much needed resource for the local community that provides culturally specific and responsive care. The Program’s ultimate aim is to mitigate LGBTQ+ mental health disparities through a health care delivery model that provides culturally tailored care by providers with LGBTQ+ mental health experience all in an environment that feels safe and affirming. The LGBTQ+ Mental Health Program will provide individual and couples mental health therapy focused on the issues distinct to the LGBTQ+ community: coming out, relationships, gender and sexual identity, transitioning, stigma and bullying, just to name a few.

CAP’s Director of Healthcare Operations, Caitlin Wells, says, “this funding is the critical component we need to launch the LGBTQ+ Mental Health Program. We know the time for this program is now. The community is asking for it; we hear their call and have a responsibility to answer it.”

The LGBTQ+ Mental Health Program will kick off in January 2019. The full list of Ninety-Nine Girlfriends Awardees appears here.