Community Partners
Adelante Mujeres
Adelante Mujeres is dedicated to helping Latina women find their voices so that they can be seen, heard, and represented in their communities. Adelante Mujeres provides holistic education and empowerment opportunities to marginalized Latina women and families to ensure full participation and active leadership in the community; and is equally dedicated to amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities.
The Lines for Life Equity Team collaborates with Adelante Mujeres to discuss elements of community environments that can be addressed to enhance quality of life, health behaviors, and outcomes. We are committed to giving this group a seat at the table so that the policies and legislation reflect the needs of this community, creating positive social change at the grassroots level.
African American Providers Group
The African American Providers Group is a community-led group of mental health providers in Portland’s Black Community who are active in promoting the importance of mental health and culturally specific resources.
Lines for Life is a regular participant in bi-weekly meetings, allowing our Equity Team to assess the needs of the community, create culturally responsive resources, and establish ongoing relationships. Together, we have created the Black Providers Resource Guide: a culturally specific guide to Black-owned or led businesses, physicians, and behavioral healthcare providers in the area.
Coalition of African and African American Pastors (CAAAP)
CAAAP is a group of pastors from churches around the Portland metro area who are deeply committed to helping meet the mental and behavioral health needs of their congregations – and themselves.
Our relationship started with an emphasis on supporting pastors struggling with their own mental health, worn thin by the realities of daily gun violence and resulting funerals plaguing the Black community in Portland. We support CAAAP with mental health education and culturally specific resources to heal themselves and their congregations.
We have further grown this relationship to include a community-wide focus, including co-hosting the 2021 Healing Trauma & Resilience Summit in response to the escalation of gun violence in Portland’s communities of color.
Highland Christian Church
Senior Pastor at Highland Christian Church, Shon Neyland, partners with our Equity Team to host events within the Black community, promoted by members of his church. Events have ranged from our 2021 Healing Trauma & Resilience Summit to a Black youth forum with the Portland Police department.
With the rise in gun violence, Portland has become the most dangerous city for a Black person to live in. While dealing with the surplus of violence, the Black community also combats their daily stressors such as racism, financial concerns, etc.; their emotional and mental well-being are consistently being negatively affected and neglected.
Pastor Neyland and his church are highly committed to working with Lines for Life’s Equity Team to push the need for culturally specific resources and to de stigmatize the negative connotations surrounding mental health in the Black community.
Leaders Become Legends
Leaders Become Legends focuses on mentoring young adults in underserved communities. Leaders Become Legends works side-by-side with those they mentor to prepare them for opportunities and provide support for trauma, life and coping skills, and stress management, all while providing financial support and knowledge of personal financial literacy.
Lines for Life’s Equity Team works alongside Leaders Become Legends to provide mental health support and culturally responsive services to mentees. Through collaboration on community projects and successful events such as the Healing Summit and Barbershop Conversations, we can amplify previously unheard voices in Black and Brown communities.
Multnomah County Health Department
The Multnomah County Health Department works alongside communities to promote and protect both the physical and mental health of all people in Multnomah County.
In partnership with Lines for Life, Multnomah County is deeply involved in efforts to improve access to behavioral healthcare in communities of color. We support Multnomah County by equipping them with a directory of culturally specific resources in the Portland-metro area, and provide culturally specific training such as H.E.A.T., a targeted mental health training for young Black men in the criminal justice system.
NxNE
The North by Northeast Community Health Center (NxNE) is the only medical clinic in Oregon devoted to providing healthcare services and health education to the Black community.
NxNE and Lines for Life’s Equity Team partner to host Barbershop Conversations in Portland’s Black and Brown communities. In addition to training barbers in Mental Health First Aid, our Barbershop Conversations serve as a cultural oasis for folks to connect with their community, get their blood pressure levels checked, and have open conversations around mental health.
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)
OHSU is Oregon’s only public academic health center and the largest employer in Portland. OHSU comprises several schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, and public health, and has a network of campuses and partners across the state.
OHSU and Lines for Life’s Equity Team partner to increase the reach of our culturally responsive services to communities of color across Oregon. OHSU supports many of our initiatives, including our Barbershop Conversations and community Healing Summits.
Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center + Rosemary Anderson High School (POIC + RAHS)
POIC provides education, mentoring, family outreach, and employment training while also operating an initiative at Rosemary Anderson school that is designed to uplift, empower, and support young people of color.
POIC’s mission and initiatives align with Lines for Life’s Cultural Engagement strategy to promote mental wellness in communities, allowing for the perfect partnership.
We work together to support their community of students and give them access to culturally specific mental health resources. For our current project with POIC, we developed a culturally relevant, youth-specific mental & emotional health survey that allows our team to investigate baseline needs and interests and help set priorities for work with POIC.
Providence Health & Promotores de Salud
Providence’s Promotores de Salud is a team of over 140 trained health promotors from the Spanish-speaking community, devoted to bringing their education and experiences back to their communities.
The Promotores program focuses on building bridges between Spanish-speaking communities and access to affordable healthcare, empowering promotors to take resources and build trust within their communities, and opening the health care system to people who would otherwise go without.
Working alongside the Promotores program, Lines for Life’s Equity Team opens access to mental health resources and destigmatizes conversations about mental health in these communities.
Raices de Bienestar (RdB)
Raices de Bienestar aims to improve and strengthen the mental health and emotional wellbeing of the Spanish-speaking community through culturally grounded, evidence-based practices, interventions, education, and capacity building activities. Recognizing that community and culture are the cornerstones of mental and emotional wellness, RdB’s mission is rooted in the values of Spanish-speaking communities.
Lines for Life’s Equity Team works with Raices de Bienestar to build trust, provide culturally specific mental health resources, and destigmatize conversations about mental health in Spanish-speaking communities across Oregon.
REAP
Since 2001, REAP – a multicultural youth leadership program – has been working at uplifting and empowering students and young leaders to have confidence and achieve their dreams.
REAP and Lines for Life’s Equity Team work together to expand mental health services for youth of color in Oregon. Together, we collaborate to bring a culturally responsive lens to training and curriculum around mental health.
Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI)
SEI is dedicated to guiding underserved youth to realize their full potential. Working with schools, families, and partner community organizations, SEI provides support, guidance, and opportunities to achieve personal and academic success. SEI brings hope to individual young people and enhances the quality of community life.
Lines for Life provides culturally responsive training and resources, assesses the needs of youth of color involved with SEI, and supports the mission that SEI promotes.
Urban League of Portland
Urban League of Portland, one of Oregon’s oldest civil rights and social services organizations, has been empowering Black communities in Oregon and Southwest Washington since 1945. Urban League of Portland invests in stable housing, workforce development, community health, education, and wellbeing for youth, adults, and seniors. Their culturally specific programs and services empower Black communities to thrive and achieve equality that changes lives.