Supporting My Community as a Mental Health First Aider

I’ve been thinking a lot about the future our young people are inheriting.

Yesterday, I shared the story below with Congress in response to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s call to action to uplift our mental health stories. As an East San Jose resident, a proud product of public schools, an educator, and a six-year certified Mental Health First Aider, I see every day how mental health shapes our schools and our democracy.

“MHFA has been one of the most practical and empowering trainings I’ve participated in—both for my own growth and for strengthening the communities I serve as an East San Jose, CA resident.

I was first trained in person in San Mateo County in January 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic began. That timing proved incredibly important. As our communities faced isolation, anxiety, and uncertainty, MHFA gave me a framework—especially ALGEE—to recognize when someone might be struggling and to respond with empathy, confidence, and appropriate resources.

In May 2023, I recertified through a Zoom training in partnership with Santa Clara County. This time, I wasn’t just a participant—I served as the project manager, leading a 13-county nonprofit coalition to organize the training. That experience expanded my understanding of MHFA from an individual skillset to a scalable community strategy. Since then, I’ve hosted annual MHFA trainings each May for Mental Health Awareness Month, with a goal of training at least 20 local adults each year. Even when participants don’t complete full certification, they leave with exposure to ALGEE, real-life scenarios, and knowledge of local resources—tools they can immediately use to support others.

This May 2026, I’m taking Youth Mental Health First Aid training for the first time through Planned Parenthood Mar Monte. As a local education advocate, a first-time school board candidate, and a board member of several youth-serving nonprofits, I see this as a critical step. Young people are facing unprecedented mental health challenges, and equipping adults—and peers—with the skills to recognize and respond early can make a lasting difference.

MHFA works because it empowers everyday people. It helps neighbors support neighbors, youth support peers, and community leaders respond with greater awareness and compassion. For Congress and policymakers, continued investment in MHFA is essential. Strengthening mental health literacy at the community level is not just preventative care—it’s a foundation for healthier, more resilient communities.”

After more than two decades in education, I am more certain than ever that mental health is the root cause of so many of the challenges we see in schools, families, neighborhoods, and civic life. When we ignore our well-being, we see the consequences in how people treat one another, how they show up—or don’t—for their communities, and even how they vote.

People are voting (or choosing not to vote at all) against their own self‑interests. Why? They are not taking sacred pauses to reflect critically on how their choices impact their lives and those of their loved ones. Instead of grounding in reflection, many are swept up in outrage or fear. People are leaning into NEGATIVE ENERGY—both in the form of emotions and thought patterns—that drain and constrict us. These negative emotions can include chronic anxiety, guilt, jealousy, resentment, and shame. Negative thinking patterns show up as catastrophizing, self‑criticism, and blaming others.

But we all have the power to choose a different path. Every single day, we have the option to lean toward POSITIVE ENERGY that supports and expands us. People who embody positive energy are not naïve or detached from reality. They experience emotions like joy, contentment, curiosity, hope,  compassion, and an interest in what's going on around them. They practice thought patterns like realistic optimism, self‑compassion, and flexible thinking. They demonstrate a growth mindset and have a problem‑solving orientation.

Research shows that people are generally better at maintaining positive than negative emotions, suggesting that when we can access and sustain positive emotions, we may be better equipped to navigate challenges and build resilience over time. UC Berkeley psychologists have shown that positive emotions tend to fade faster than negative ones, especially for people with higher anxiety, which means we must be intentional about practicing gratitude and sustaining the positive moments that do arise. 

A psychologically healthy life is not about suppressing “bad” feelings; it is about emotional range, self‑regulation, and learning from both negative and positive experiences.

I live in East San Jose, where structural inequities, income inequality, and systemic racism intersect with everyday stress. We must pay attention to whether young people feel safe going to school, whether families can afford rent and food, and whether our neighbors have someone to turn to when they feel overwhelmed.

What do we know about the status of mental health in East San Jose?

While data is often collected at the county or statewide level, there is enough to paint a picture that aligns with what I hear anecdotally from East San Jose youth and families.

• Statewide, California youth have experienced rising mental health needs. In 2020, there were over 37,000 mental health–related hospital discharges among Californians ages 5–19. Additionally, roughly 12% of children ages 3–17 had at least one current, provider‑diagnosed mental health condition such as anxiety, depression, or behavioral disorders (Source: KidsData.org).
• A 2025 poll found that 94% of California Gen Z youth (born between 1997 and 2012) reported experiencing mental health challenges in an average month. Essentially, distress has become the new normal for teens and young adults (Source: Blue Shield of California’s BlueSky initiative).
• About 40% of high school students nationwide report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. The rates are even higher among girls and Hispanic students, groups that are heavily represented in East San Jose schools (Source: CDC’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey).
• Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10–14 and the third leading cause for ages 15–24 in the United States. Nearly 1 in 5 high school students report having serious thoughts of suicide (NAMI).

For East San Jose, all of this translates into classrooms where:

• Students are carrying grief, anxiety, and economic stress into their learning.
• Families (often multi-generational within one household) are navigating language barriers, immigration stress, economic instability, and housing & food insecurity alongside physical and mental healthcare challenges.
• Educators and youth‑serving staff are often the first to notice warning signs but may not feel equipped to respond, nor have the training to respond without risking additional harm. 

This is the context in which I practice and champion Mental Health First Aid.

Essentially, distress has become the new normal for teens and young adults.

Why Mental Health First Aid?

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a training that teaches everyday people how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among youth and adults. It is not therapy, and it is not a replacement for professional care.

Instead, it is a framework for compassionate, informed, and practical support—much like learning CPR for emotional and psychological crises.

The core MHFA action plan, “ALGEE,” gives us a simple structure to lean on when a situation feels complex or overwhelming: 

• A – Approach, assess for risk of suicide or harm. 
• L – Listen nonjudgmentally. 
• G – Give reassurance and information. 
• E – Encourage appropriate professional help. 
• E – Encourage self-help and other support strategies.

Source: https://mentalhealthfirstaid.org/news/algee-how-mhfa-helps-you-respond-in-crisis-and-non-crisis-situations/

MHFA works because it democratizes mental health literacy. 

MHFA does not ask us to become clinicians. It asks us to become more human with each other. How? By being more aware, present, and skilled at connecting people to the help they deserve. It reminds us that we don’t have to be alone in our mental health and wellbeing journeys, reinforcing our connection to each other. 

MHFA is a tool that has served me every day since I first learned it pre-pandemic.

When it comes to my own mental health, this training has helped me unlearn taboos and myths that have kept me from asking for help my whole life. It has normalized me reaching out for support, as well as me offering it to others without them having to ask first. 

When it comes to supporting others, this training has helped me better understand the difference between anxiety and depression. It has given me the tools to recognize suicidal ideation and the practical tips and resources to say something when I see something. And, it has given me so much more.

What SMART Goal can I set for my mental health and wellness?

As an educator, advocate, and aspiring student-focused public official, I know that my personal mental health practices ripple out into my leadership. I cannot ask students, families, or colleagues to do what I am not willing to do myself.

Starting in May 2026 in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, to keep myself accountable, I will implement a SMART Goal focused on my own mental health and wellbeing. Consider your own SMART Goal, or feel free to adopt mine as your own!

Mer's SMART Goal:
Over the next 12 months, starting on May 1, 2026, I will cultivate a more balanced emotional life by intentionally strengthening positive emotions and flexible thinking while honoring and learning from difficult emotions, so that I can show up as a grounded, compassionate leader in East San Jose.

S for SPECIFIC

Specificity matters because research suggests that people often habituate quickly to positive events, especially when they live with higher levels of anxiety. That’s why I want to create and savor moments that replenish me. To make this goal S for SPECIFIC, I will:

• Continue my daily meditation practice to take one “sacred pause” each day. 
• Just 5-10 minutes of quiet reflection, journaling, or mindful breathing is enough to name what I am feeling (pleasant or unpleasant) and what it might be trying to teach me.

Other ideas that YOU can try:

• Intentionally build at least one small positive experience into each day, such as a brief walk in your neighborhood, a phone call with a friend, listening to music you love, starting a garden, or laughing at yourself about something silly. 
• Use the ALGEE framework at least once a week in a conversation with a young person, colleague, family member, friend, or neighbor to normalize mental health check‑ins for people in your orbit.
  
  

M for Measurable

Having measures helps me see whether I am actually practicing emotional range and regulation, not just thinking about it. To make this goal M for Measurable, I will:

• Use one of my daily meditations each week to reflect and journal about one difficult emotion I encountered and what I learned from it. 
• I will also add one positive emotion I cultivated and what helped sustain it.

Other ideas that YOU can try:

• A daily check‑box habit tracker (paper or digital) where you mark: 
  • 1) Sacred pause completed (Y/N), and/or 
  • 2) Positive experience noticed and named (Y/N).
• ALGEE conversation practiced (Y/N, ideally at least weekly).
• A quarterly self‑check using self‑rated questions on a 1–10 scale, such as: 
  • “How often am I reacting from fear, shame, or resentment?” or 
  • “How often am I operating from curiosity, hope, or compassion?”
    
    

A for Achievable

Practicing meditation daily is achievable because I am not adding something new to my routine. I am adding reflection to the work I already do every day, which aligns with how sustainable behavior change tends to succeed. To make this goal A for Achievable:

• My daily practice of 10+ minutes is realistic even in a packed schedule, because I have already proven it by surpassing 3,000 days of meditation. 

Other ideas that YOU can try:

• Short positive experiences that do not require extra money or elaborate planning, like walking, going on hikes, or reading.
• Activities that build on things you already enjoy, like gardening, watching movies, or connecting with others.
  
  

R for Relevant

These investments in my emotional maintenance are relevant because research reinforces how important it is to understand our emotional patterns and model healthy ways of engaging with both joy and pain. This goal is R for Relevant, because:

• As an educator, governance leader, and advocate, I want to embody the emotional literacy and self‑regulation I hope to see in our schools and systems.
• As a resident of East San Jose, where structural inequities converge, I want to contribute to a culture where it is normal to talk about feelings, seek help, and support one another.

Other ideas that YOU can try:

• Reflect on your community and your vision for its future. 
• Consider how ALGEE and wellbeing contribute to meeting those goals.
  
  

T for Timing

By committing to a full year, I am giving myself enough time to invest in real habit‑building, while still having regular checkpoints to course‑correct as needed. This goal’s T for Timing is:

• A 12‑month time frame, with built‑in milestones (daily, weekly, quarterly).
• Launched in May to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, with the hopes that it will also inspire others to take action.
  

Other ideas that YOU can try:

• Set quarterly milestones to review what you have learned, and adjust practices if needed. For example, during each equinox and solstice (March 20-21, June 20-21, September 22-23, December 21-22). 
• At 12 months, evaluate whether you feel more emotionally balanced, and how this has affected your leadership, relationships, and sense of purpose.
  
  

We can learn and evolve -- IF and WHEN we choose to

The through‑line in my MHFA journey and in the science of emotions shows us that we are not stuck.

I also know that our brains and hearts are capable of learning new patterns. We can expand our emotional vocabulary, strengthen our capacity to stay with discomfort, and cultivate positive emotions (Source: Rest).

But this growth is not automatic. It requires intention. It requires communities, like those in East San Jose, to invest in training, storytelling, and policies that honor mental health as a foundational part of education, democracy, and justice. 

I chose to learn and evolve in 2020, which led me to MHFA and inspired me to invest in my personal growth every year. The following are examples of what I learned from MHFA:

• When students, colleagues, or neighbors begin to show signs of isolation, panic, or deep fatigue, ALGEE helps me pause, really listen, and offer resources instead of rushing to “fix” or even freezing.
• My view has expanded from “I have skills to offer” to “we can build a community safety net.”
  
• Doing the things I already enjoy (like coordinating logistics, outreach, and follow‑up) showed me how MHFA can be scaled across organizations and geographies, especially when we center accessibility.
  
• Hosting annual MHFA training each May for Mental Health Awareness Month has been one of the most practical ways I can give back to East San Jose and Santa Clara County. 
• Even when participants don’t complete full certification, they leave with exposure to ALGEE, real‑life scenarios, knowledge of local resources, and tools they can use immediately in their families, workplaces, and neighborhoods.
  
  

Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA), which I am undertaking this May 2026 through Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, is the next essential layer. The data on youth mental health and the stories I hear from students and families make it clear that we need more youth and adults who know how to:

• Recognize early warning signs of distress, including changes in mood, behavior, sleep, or school performance.
• Notice red flags for suicide risk and respond with both urgency and compassion, including connecting young people to immediate support and following up.
  
• Navigate conversations about social media use, bullying, identity, family stress, and substance use in ways that validate young people’s emotions instead of minimizing them.

My next blog article will focus on the mental health challenges our youth are specifically facing, and offer ideas on how we can tackle them together.

CALLS TO ACTION!

No matter who you are or what you do, we all have a role to play! 

Whether you choose to certify as a Mental Health First Aider or bring ALGEE into spaces that you occupy, commit to taking ONE action this year. 

• Youth and the adults who work with them have a curriculum to learn how to talk to young people ages 12-18 about mental health and how to step in when they need help.
• Adults across sectors can also benefit from training, and MHFA offers it for industries (e.g., manufacturing, restaurants, retail) and specific communities (e.g., higher education, public safety, corrections, rural communities, Spanish speakers).

For policymakers:

• Invest in schools that are safe, relationship‑centered, and healing‑oriented, not just focused on academics or punishment (Source: California Youth & Families Speak).
• Regional children’s advocacy efforts highlight mental health, basic needs, and school climate as core pillars of child wellbeing, emphasizing the need for coordinated, community‑level responses for youth and families (Source: Kids in Common).
• Invest in MHFA because it is a smart, preventative strategy that strengthens our social fabric. When more youth and adults know how to respond to depressive episodes, panic attacks, or suicidal ideation, we prevent harm before it is caused. We can reduce emergency‑room visits, prevent crises from escalating, and create school and community environments where people feel seen and supported.

As a Mental Health First Aider, I am choosing to keep learning and practice ALGEE in my daily life. I am choosing to meditate, to build in sacred pauses. I am advocating for policies that make it easier, not harder, for our youth and families to get the mental health and wellbeing support they need to thrive. If enough of us make similar choices, we can move from a culture of reactivity and fear to one of reflection, compassion, and collective resilience.

SOURCES

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6151172/
  
• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dancing-with-the-devil/202407/the-emotion-double-standard
• https://ls.berkeley.edu/news/psychology-study-confirms-positive-emotions-fade-faster-negative-emotions
• https://www.kidsincommon.org/_files/ugd/916e96_129c0baee3c943b0b33ea4b2a49ed9ef.pdf?index=true https://futureoflearningca.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/California-Youth-Families-Speak-CA-PFL-2025-Listening-Campaign-12-November-2025.pdf 
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sara-goldrick-rab-b086977_the-real-way-schools-are-failing-boys-activity-7401478146761588737-JraF?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&rcm=ACoAAALQz80BIFX1dGTEGj7emmVU_n9lFEEB9ys
• https://mentalhealthfirstaid.org/individuals/higher-education/
• https://www.nami.org/kids-teens-and-young-adults/what-you-need-to-know-about-youth-suicide/
• https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-youth/mental-health/index.html