Alter Behavioral Health Provides Free Mental Health Support to San Diego Flood Victims through CalHOPE Grant

SAN DIEGO, June 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Alter Behavioral Health, a leading behavioral healthcare company in California, is set to provide expert mental health support at no cost to individuals affected by the flooding in San Diego County through its AlterCareLine program. This initiative is made possible by the grant awarded to Alter Behavioral Health through the Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP) administered by California HOPE (CalHOPE).

CalHOPE is an organization that provides support to communities impacted by natural disasters. It administers the Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP) which is a short-term grant designed to support disaster-stricken communities by providing free and accessible mental health services, counseling, and community outreach.

With the recent flooding in San Diego County, the grant awarded to Alter Behavioral Health will allow the AlterCareLine program to provide immediate mental health support to individuals needing to heal from the trauma, anxiety, and other mental health challenges brought about by the natural disaster. The program will have round-the-clock support specialists available to people affected by the floods.

Michael Castanon, Founder & CEO of Alter Behavioral Health, shared that the CCP grant is a remarkable initiative for communities dealing with natural disasters so they can start to heal and recover.

“Mental health is often an overlooked aspect when it comes to disaster recovery, but the reality is that many individuals affected by the San Diego flooding may be in a vulnerable state not only financially and physically but also mentally. The destructive consequences brought about by the flooding can wreak havoc in their daily lives, therefore they need valuable support to make sure they can mentally cope with what happened. The grant opens up an incredible opportunity for Alter Behavioral Health to provide accessible and timely mental health services to those who need it the most,” Castanon said.

This grant is the fourth one awarded to the Alter Behavioral Health, enabling them to deliver no-cost mental health assistance to disaster-impacted communities. The previous grants allowed Alter to offer free mental health support to communities in Santa Clara and Santa Barbara which have been affected by disasters in the past.

Alter Behavioral Health’s past experience in delivering disaster relief in the form of mental health care has proven to be a successful and necessary resource in aiding individuals to recover from these natural disasters. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Alter was awarded a broader grant from the CA-DHCS and FEMA, and provided approximately 200,000 encounters of care at no cost to the public. With this new grant, Alter’s team is already mobilizing its resources in San Diego to ensure that direct and meaningful resources will be accessible to people in the affected areas.

In addition to short-term mental health support, the CCP grant also took into consideration the importance of long-term recovery. This means that the AlterCareLine program will be available free of charge to the affected San Diego communities for up to nine months following the disaster declaration.

“Recovering from a mental health challenge like anxiety or trauma is not instant. It’s a process and for recovery to be sustainable, it needs to be supported in the long term. We are truly grateful that we were given this opportunity to do our part and lend our expertise to make a difference in the affected communities. This grant does not only represent financial support from CalHOPE but more importantly, it also reflects our commitment to bringing a positive impact to people who have experienced these devastating crises,” said Castanon.

Alter Behavioral Health
34270 Pacific Coast Hwy 3rd Floor,
Dana Point, CA 92629
(949) 356-7952

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SOURCE Alter Behavioral Health