COVID-19 Community Report Episode 34: Speaking with Sara Gavin, Chief Behavioral Health Officer at CommuniCare Davis and Melanie Carr of Tuesday Table- Sep 1st, 2020

This unparalleled time we're living through affects not only our physical health, but our mental health as well. Today I speak with Sara Gavin, LMFT/LPCC. She serves as Chief Behavioral Health Officer at CommuniCare Health Centers, overseeing a 100-person team of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder services in Yolo County,  and also sits on the Board of Directors of National Alliance for NAMI-Yolo. We'll speak about current mental health challenges, and what kinds of local resources are available.  In our second interview, I chat with Melanie Carr, a Davis resident who's been offering a "Tuesday Table" through the pandemic, a "take what you need" offering in one Davis neighborhood. We'll hear about why she started it, and what it offers.  Sara Gavin spoke about the importance for everyone to acknowledge their sense of loss and huge changes imposed upon them by the potential isolation of social distancing, online classrooms, and working from home, to name a few. She notes that there is a "destruction of connection, and that is how we typically heal". She noted the excellent mental health "navigator program" at Davis' CommuniCare Health Center   and also the valuable family support programs available through NAMI - Yolo.