Gwendolyn's Light
Long & Short
Term Plans
Gwendolyn's Light, a non-profit organization in its infancy is currently looking to help with resources and support the community Alameda, CA. This is where Gwendolyn spent most of her childhood. Below are a list of long and short term goals as an organization. These have already changed and evolved based off of our current pandemic climate. We expect them to be an ever evolving and growing list as we gain and show support throughout the community.
Early on in our research of what gaps were not being filled in the school system was a goal of AUSD to have all High School staff and administration trained as Mental First Aiders.
Mental Health First Aid is a course that teaches you how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The training gives you the skills you need to reach out and provide initial help and support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem or experiencing a crisis.
The GL Board as a whole all took the Mental Health First Aid course and are now certified as Mental Health First Aiders. Our founding member, Laura Katz, is now certified to teach the Mental Health First Aid class to others. Ruth is on her way to becoming certified to teach as well. This way we can work with AUSD to try and implement the needed training for their staff and administrators.
In researching the needs of the schools, we have found that there is a lack of professional mental health providers on staff to cover the true needs of the student bodies. We would like collaborate with AUSD and Alameda families to help form and implement a program to cover this disparity.