Nuestras Raíces Community Center launches capital campaign for behavioral health center; opens up new space in Othello

An organization dedicated to helping the local Hispanic community has raised $70,000 after launching a capital campaign at their Tacos and Tequila Festival for a permanent space in the community.

About $48,000 will go toward the new space, with the rest going to expenses from other programs within the organization.

The facility would primarily be a behavioral health center for the Hispanic/Latino community and would include social services and wellness programs.

“That is one of the biggest needs that we saw here in Spokane, is the lack of social services and mental health for the Hispanic community,” said Fernanda Mazcot, executive director of the center.

Nuestras Raíces is part of the Hispanic Business Professional Association, an organization that was created 25 years ago to create more opportunities for Hispanic/Latino businesses in the Inland Northwest.

And with the Hispanic community going from 5% to 7% over the last couple of years, the community center has been a key resource for many community members in Spokane and Eastern Washington – especially when it comes to their mental health services.

Mazcot said she started the Esperanza program, which offers mental health and social services, four years ago to serve the Hispanic community after seeing the lack of BIPOC mental health providers in the area.

“My background is in social work. I’ve worked in social services since I was in high school – and I’m very passionate about mental health, and there’s just not enough resources for the Hispanic/Latino population around social services and mental health,” she said.

“So within the Esperanza program, we do direct services, and we help folks with their (Department of Social and Health Services) applications – it’s very important that we have folks that can represent the community that we’re serving, that, you know, they represent our culture.”

Nuestras Raíces currently has five social workers and two licensed mental health providers in the Esperanza program, including five social work students each year doing their practicum with the center in behavioral health.

All services are at no cost.

In the last month, Nuestras Raíces has also leased an office in Othello, a rural community with a population that’s 77% Hispanic, because of the large number of people driving to Spokane from the small town and surrounding places like Mattawa and Royal City for mental health services.

They will provide business and tele-mental health services for community members and will have a bilingual staff of four.

Maria Martinez, site manager for the office in Othello, said she grew up working in the fields picking onions with her mom and saw firsthand the struggles many farmworkers deal with that can worsen mental health issues.

“Being in a rural area, it’s hard, because you either have to go to Grant County to Moses Lake to get assistance with electricity and things like that … And some families don’t have that transportation, or, you know, the resources to get there,” Martinez said.

Depression and anxiety among the Hispanic community in Washington increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study through the University of Washington’s Latino Center for Health.

Out of the survey, scores for “depression likely” and “anxiety likely” were higher among people between 18 and 30 and participants older than 65, women, those with higher education and those with lower incomes.

Through their 2022 inaugural infographic for Hispanic statistics in Washington, the center also states that 38% of adults report poor mental health, and the second leading cause of death for people 18 and under is suicide.

“You know, someone that understands your language and your culture is so important. We have fantastic partnerships with other health centers that offer behavioral health, but the more we thought about it, you know, we need a specific place where it’s really going to center the needs of our people,” Mazcot said.

Nuestras Raices will have a grand opening ceremony, resource fair and a small Day of the Dead event for its new location from 1 to 8 p.m., Oct. 12, on the main street of the new office at 381 E Main St. in Othello.