Cielo Project Radio Ranch

Programs: Proyecto familia supports the mission of cielo project to be a community resource for multicultural health services. Under contract with the wa state department of social & health services, a team of mental health therapists and case managers continued to serve the mental health needs of latino immigrant families and other underserved populations. In 2014, proyecto familia served 140 families throughout thurston, lewis, greys harbor and mason counties. Our bilingual clinicians are what set us apart from other groups. Our ability to speak with our clients in their native language allows us to have a deeper understanding of what services they need and to provide them in a culturally appropriate manner. Services provided in english and spanish were: crisis family intervention(cfi), addressing parent-teen conflict through a 6-week in-home family counseling program; professional services, providing therapeutic mental health counseling by referral from dcfs; positive parenting program (ppp), giving parents simple and practical strategies to help manage their children's behavior, prevent problems from developing, and build strong and healthy relationships; and family preservation services (fps), focusing on improving family functioning and helping families connect to local community resources. Each therapist emphasizes a strength- based, family centered approach, while the team's work collectively is informed by cultural awareness and respect. A strength-based perspective assists each family to renew their sense of honor and self-respect, encouraging them to recognize that it is not only their problems that define them.

proyecto esperanza provides cultural and linguistic services to latinos/as who are survivors of sexual abuse and to their non-offending caregivers in thurston county. Due to the limited access to culturally competent services across the entire south sound region, we also serve people from lewis, mason, and grays harbor counties. In 2014 we provided services to 44 survivors with a total of 266 hours. Our services included counseling, advocacy, support groups, prevention, and community awareness workshops. Clients of proyecto esperanza experience multiple and complex needs. This is why our counseling services go beyond the counseling room and beyond mainstream therapeutic interventions. We see survivors who left their native countries because of sexual violence, survivors of both sexual and domestic violence, teens who were kidnapped and have suffered all types of violence. No other agency in the area can offer these services in spanish with culturally competency. Our commitment and vision is to continue enhancing our counseling and advocacy team and decreasing the barriers and disparities overall that the latino communities we serve are facing.

cielo educational program began with english language learning (esl/ell) classes 18 years agoto support cielo's mission of "promoting community, self-sufficiency, and leadership" through educational services to latino immigrants and others. Later, spanish literacy classes, from elementary through high school levels, were added; then ged preparationin spanish (or english); and more recently computer and sewing classes in spanish ( with relevant english vocabulary instruction). At the end of 2013, due to budget cuts, cielo's educational services were drastically reduced. But through 2014 we grew back to flourish and far surpass previous numbers of people served: from 30 adult students and 5 children (in childcare) at the beginning of the year, to 160 students and 25 children by the end of the year. This was accomplished thanks to the dedication of 60 volunteers-- many of them bilingual-- in the different course programs. The holistic nature of cielo's services is unique. Our programs and activities together address the whole person, multigenerational and extended latino families, and the diverse range of needs in latino communities. We meet the individual and the family where they are in their present circumstances by providing a safe and supportive environment which affirms their varied life experiences and cultural identities. Vulnerable spanish-speaking individuals and families, struggling in isolation, find at cielo a vibrant latino community which welcomes them, honors their courage and integrity, and encourages their active participation in creating their own path toward greater family resilience, stability, and a successful future.