Pilsen's 'Salud' puts mental health up front in the Hispanic community
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As Hispanic Heritage Month gets underway this week, a local organization is using the moment as an opportunity.
It wants to put a spotlight on how culture and community could help heal when it comes to mental health.
CBS 2's Andrew Ramos reports from Pilsen.
"I was entering a new episode in life. I was feeling overwhelmed with how life was going, and the things that were happening outside of work, and I was looking for an outlet."
Miguel Hernandez was making big moves, opening a new brunch spot in Pilsen, all while juggling the job of being a devoted dad and husband when he realized he needed help.
He turned to Salud a community-based organization where the objective is to provide safe spaces for members of the community to connect and hold conversations about mental health.
"I felt comfortable. I felt like I was able to talk to this person, pretty much kind of without any judgment," Hernandez said.
For many in the Latino community like Hernandez, conversations about mental health were not only rare growing up, but nonexistent.
It's a stigma that has lingered for generations, one that Dr. Ricardo Camacho, a licensed psychologist and founder of Salud, is trying to break.
"Sometimes, when you talk about mental health, it's usually a journey that is alone. And we are trying to normalize that you could have these conversations with loved ones, with family," Camacho said.
His grassroots effort is gradually becoming a movement in predominantly Latino neighborhoods like Pilsen and Little Village where these group discussions started with a handful of strangers and now have ballooned to several dozen.
It's giving access to a resource typically not available to Black and Brown communities.
With Hispanic Heritage Month upon us, Dr. Camacho sees it as an opportunity, holding an upcoming event being hosted by Columbia College - called "La Cultura Cura" which means "culture heals" leaning on the unique Latino experience to spark a conversation on mental health
"When you take the time to understand yourself you can begin to say hey, it's not only what you can do for yourself, but what others around us can do as well," Camacho said.
Go to Salud's website for more information on its upcoming event "La Cultura Cura," the culture heals, happening on September 28. You must RSVP because space is limited.
