Vehicle donated by Robert Z. Hawkins Foundations supports behavioral health outreach in Quad Counties

The Robert Z. Hawkins Foundation, which has served northern Nevada as a non-profit since 1980, has donated a vehicle to Carson Tahoe Health (CTH) for its behavioral health outreach programs. The vehicle will be used to assist CTH professionals and increase access to care through programs such as Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), First Episode Psychosis (FEP), school suicide risk assessments and community education around mental health awareness and suicide. To learn more about Carson Tahoe health, visit www.carsontahoe.com.

“Our primary goal for these programs is to improve access to mental and behavioral healthcare for individuals in our community who struggle to find resources,” said Christina Sapien, LCSW, Director of Behavioral Health Services for Carson Tahoe Health. “Thanks to this donation, we can ensure that transportation is not a barrier to care. Our teams can bring patients to and from treatment, group sessions, and other appointments, while also supporting individuals through our community outreach education programs. We are immensely grateful to the Robert Z. Hawkins Foundation for championing community health through this gift.”

A 501 (c)(3) private, not-for-profit healthcare system, Carson Tahoe Health includes Behavioral Health Services, the mental health division of the health system and the Mallory Behavioral Health Crisis Center, the region’s only 24-hour mental health crisis facility. Additionally, CTH has two innovative behavioral health outreach programs (ACT and FEP) which focus on providing individuals in crisis the care they need through community-based treatment. Community-based treatments keep individuals connected to services and treatments in their own community, but transportation can still be a barrier for many. Through the Robert Z. Hawkins Foundation donation, trained staff will now be able to assist these individuals in accessing important mental health resources.

Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic both highlighted and exacerbated the need for additional mental health resources, not only in the community, but also in schools. To support these populations, CTH will also use the vehicle for its community mental health education program, which provides suicide-risk assessments in local schools.

“In 2019, roughly 32 percent of our served population showed symptoms of chronic depression, a number that, like the need for suicide risk assessments in schools, has only gone up due to the pandemic,” said Jacob Ricks, Behavioral Health Services Nurse Manager. “This donated vehicle will provide our team with reliable transportation, regardless of distance, to assist students in elementary, middle and high schools across the region.”

When the vehicle is not being used to transport patients to appointments, it will be utilized for community mental health education programs and local school suicide-risk assessments. The vehicle will ensure that patients in various CTH behavioral health programs are able to access the care and resources needed to avoid potential mental health crises. To learn more about Carson Tahoe Health’s behavioral health services, visit CarsonTahoe.com/BHS.