Napa Register
July 21, 2020
At a time when many nonprofits are shrinking, Mentis announced an expansion of its divisions and services, including a new Prevention division, to better serve the growing needs of the community.
The agency will acquire Teens Connect, a three-year-old nonprofit that engages and empowers young people, to grow its school-based prevention and early intervention mental health services.
“The more we teach good mental health habits right from the start, the better. This makes every mental health dollar go further,” said Rob Weiss, executive director of Mentis.
“While we continue to serve residents with immediate and substantial mental health needs, there is also a pressing need in our community to offer mental health services that support people in addressing life’s challenges early before they become overwhelming and more problematic. This might be helping youth navigate social and academic stress or assisting them to learn the tools to manage strong feelings or have better family relationships,” he said in a news release.
The new Prevention division will be led by Jeni Olsen, founder and executive director of Teens Connect. The programs of Teens Connect will be folded into this division, with the long-term goal of expanding programs to Napa students from kindergarten through college.
“We are all deeply committed to leveraging our resources to better meet the mental health needs of our community and our next generation,” Olsen said.
Mentis provides bi-lingual, affordable mental health services to people of every age, stage and income level, and supported over 1,500 residents last year.