Northeastern Center, Inc. to conduct national webinars

On May 20, 2010 mental health professionals and leaders from across the country will gather online to participate in Northeastern Center's Bienvenido Webinar Facilitator Training. The Northeastern Center, in partnership with the National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health Care (NNED), will hold eight webinars that will prepare leaders to facilitate the Bienvenido curriculum. The Bienvenido curriculum is a strengths-based mental health prevention intervention that seeks to provide participant's potentially new knowledge on mental health related topics, create a peer support network, and stimulate participants to increased participation in community activities. In 2009 the National Latino Behavioral Health Association, the NNED, and the University Of South Florida, Florida Mental Health Institute selected the Bienvenido Program as 1 of 16 top national programs regarding mental health for Latino immigrants.

The webinar participants will be a part of the first "Community of Practice" virtual learning community created by the NNED. The virtual learning community will meet weekly for eight weeks and receive instruction from Northeastern Center and its community partners. Upon completion of the webinars leaders will work to create Bienvenido mental health promotion groups with Latino immigrants in their respective communities. Gilberto Perez Jr., director of the Bienvenido Program, Dr. Carmen Paniagua-Quinones, Ph.D., and Emily Heinlein, Connecting Families, Baltimore, MD, will conduct the webinars. States that will participate in the webinars are Colorado, Indiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Texas.

The Bienvenido Program demonstrates that mental health promotion is a viable plan for community mental health centers, religious organizations, schools, and community-based organizations. Individuals and organizations interested in bringing the Bienvenido Program to their community should contact Northeastern Center personnel and visit www.nec.org (click Latino services).

For more information regarding the "Community of Practice" webinars please contact:

Gilberto Perez Jr., MSW, ACSW

Northeastern Center, Inc.

gperez@nec.org

260-318-5042