Congress is expected to allocate more than $800,000 to Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) later this year for a major expansion of the mental-health program at our LGBTQ+ health center, Prism Health. The funds were included in the 2021-22 federal budget at the request of U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer. CAP was one of only 10 organizations selected to receive funding after being nominated by Rep. Blumenauer.

Our organization will use the funds to hire several new staff members, including two new psychotherapists and a nurse practitioner specializing in psychiatric medicine. These additional providers will help Prism meet the high demand for safe, welcoming, and knowledgeable LGBTQ+ mental healthcare by expanding our mental-health patient capacity by at least 33%. They will also expand our capacity for prescribing and managing drugs to treat mental-health conditions, including substance-use disorder.

Research shows that LGBTQ+ people are more likely than the general population to experience mental-health issues. For example, almost twice as many lesbian, gay, and bisexual Oregonians as straight Oregonians report having frequent mental distress, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning youth in Oregon are five times more likely than their heterosexual peers to report having attempted suicide in the past year. 

Despite these disparities, Oregon bisexuals, gays, and lesbians are less likely than straight people to have any regular healthcare provider. Even in LGBTQ-friendly Multnomah County, a 2018 study of the mental-health system noted that “it is still difficult to find providers who can be responsive to [LGBTQ+ people’s] needs across the service continuum.” 

Prism began offering mental-health services in 2019 to help fill this gap. Today, the program serves almost 300 patients, more than 90% of whom identify with a sexual or gender minority. “For too long, mental health care, especially for the LGBTQ+ community, has been stigmatized, underfunded, and difficult to come by,” Rep. Blumenauer said in a statement. “Here in Oregon, Prism Health is working to fix this. I’m proud to support their efforts to expand access and improve the quality of mental health care for the LGBTQ+ community.”

For more information, please contact CAP’s Public Policy & Grants Manager, Jonathan Frochtzwajg, at jfrochtzwajg@capnw.org or (503) 278-3852.

About Cascade AIDS Project

CAP is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1985 as a grassroots response to the AIDS crisis. As the oldest and largest community-based HIV services provider in Oregon and southwest Washington, we seek to support and empower all people with or affected by HIV, reduce stigma, and provide the LGBTQ+ community with compassionate healthcare. We do so by helping to ensure the health and well-being of our program participants each year through health, housing, and other social services. When the need for affordable, accessible, and culturally affirming primary care services was identified as a community need, we responded by opening Prism Health in 2017.  More information can be found at www.capnw.org.

About Prism Health 

Prism Health provides high quality, affordable, and accessible health care for all, with a focus on serving individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, plus all other gender and sexual minorities (LGBTQ+). All of Prism services aim to reach the most vulnerable – those living below the poverty line, communities of color, homeless or unstably housed individuals, and people experiencing mental health and/or addiction issues.