This May, I’m sharing highlights that relate to mental and behavioral health and well-being. May is mental health month, first designated in the United States in 1949 to reduce stigma surrounding mental health conditions and promote humane support and treatment. To clarify, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define mental health as including “our emotional, psychological, and social well-being,” while behavioral health is a broader umbrella that encompasses “mental distress, mental health conditions, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and substance use.” Daily, we can see the need for programs and services that respect individual autonomy and personal liberty while providing necessary resources to those in need of support.

This May, Humboldt County was awarded a grant stemming from the behavioral health Proposition 1 ballot measure, voted in statewide last March. In September 2024, our Board of Supervisors approved submission of a proposal to build a brand new Sempervirens facility to augment our current aging inpatient and outpatient treatment facility on Wood Street (near H and Harris). This facility will be licensed by the state as a psychiatric facility, which is why the inpatient bed count is set at 16 beds; this licensure also creates strict (and costly) building requirements for new facilities. Another four beds will be available for crisis stabilization stays that are less than 24 hours long. The facility will serve children and youth as well as those who are non-ambulatory, all important and unmet needs in our community. As explained in the county’s grant submission, “The project will leverage local, state and philanthropic investment in its sister project, the Humboldt County Behavioral Health Crisis Triage Center, to create and sustain a seamless continuum of crisis care with healing and dignity as its guiding light.” The grant of over $43.5 million in state bond dollars, matched by approximately $4 million in funding financed by the county, is funding that we simply could not have gotten if we hadn’t quickly applied. Our Health and Human Services and Public Works/Facilities staff along with our county’s administrative team deserve enormous accolades for their speedy and effective work putting together this proposal, and I’m very grateful to them.

May is also a time when we recognize the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP), which draws attention to the incredibly disproportionate number of Native American and Alaska Native people who have been killed, gone missing, or been trafficked. These deaths, disappearances, and trafficking crimes present jurisdictional and equity challenges that deserve scrutiny and community engagement. In addition, the intergenerational trauma and historic harms done to native communities mean that culturally relevant mental and behavioral health resources are greatly needed. I was very glad to see that K’ima:w Medical Center, United Indian Health Services, Two Feathers Native American Family Services, and the Yurok Tribe each received substantial grants for their project proposals to construct new or improved facilities with Proposition 1 funds as well. While I don’t personally have all the details of these projects yet, Humboldt will work closely with local tribal nations and agencies to make sure people get care in the most culturally appropriate setting possible.

May is also Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, a time to learn about and lift up the experiences of AAPI community members. At this month’s fourth annual Eureka Chinatown Street Festival, I was filled with both joy and sadness. The joy stemmed from seeing this festival’s beauty and the large number of people of Asian heritage sharing incredibly diverse cultural traditions. The sorrow stems from the part that Eureka and Humboldt County, including duly elected officials who are long gone now but whose names are present in our streets and institutions, played in forcibly expelling Chinese people from this community, kicking off a series of similar events all over the West Coast. Many decades later, the process was repeated as people of Japanese descent were interned in camps far from their homes, including people forced to leave Humboldt County. These overtly racist actions are heartbreaking and serve as a compelling reminder that race-based profiling and judging people by their heritage instead of their individual actions is not consistent with community values or the right of due process. May we take this opportunity in May of 2025 to respect and truly see one another, for our own health and the well-being of generations to come.

As always, you are welcome to contact me at narroyo@co.humboldt.ca.us to share any thoughts or feedback!

Natalie Arroyo is a Humboldt County supervisor representing District 4 (Eureka, Myrtletown, Samoa, and Fairhaven). Follow her on Instagram at @arroyo_supervisor or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ArroyoSupervisor. Email her at narroyo@co.humboldt.ca.us.