Connect-OC: Help, Healing, Hope
- Arielle Zappia
- Sep 22, 2022
- 2 min read
Connect-OC brings mental health resources currently available throughout Orange County for teens and young adults together in one place. Connect-OC is about building a platform that brings teens and young adults from diverse backgrounds and circumstances across Orange County together to make their voices heard, help others find their voices, and normalize talking about mental health & wellness. Connect-OC also strives to create a community that empowers everyone to pave a path to something better. The people at Connect-OC work together to break the stigma of mental health, one day at a time.
Connect-OC is a Partners4Wellness program. Since 1957, Partners4Wellness has led the effort to reduce alcohol, tobacco, and drug use among youth in Orange County. Its success is built on fostering collaboration, advocating for policy changes, developing grassroots partnerships, and providing the highest-quality community, school, and family programs. Through the Connect-OC program, they are taking a more holistic approach to well-being with services and programming aimed at enhancing mental wellness and emotional competency.
Here are the four major ways that Connect-OC & Partners4Wellness make a difference in the community:
Collaborating with school districts, county agencies, law enforcement, community leaders, and the medical community in developing specialized programs on substance use prevention, skill building, and mental health.
Empowering and mobilizing communities to take on these issues to create happier, healthier kids and families.
Advocating for state and local policy changes with elected officials and policy makers.
Educating youth, families, and the community on current and emerging substance and mental health issues.
Connect-OC also has a fantastic resource directory highlighting over 50 other resources within Orange County for anyone to use!
Another great resource that Connect-OC provides is its online blog, educating readers about mental health as well as showing stories from different individuals within the programs!
To reach Connect-OC's website directly, click here.
To sign up to be a part of Connect-OC's wonderful mission, click here.
Arielle/ProjectWhy continue to shed light on the numerous and amazing amount of resources available to homeless. I hope ProjectWhy continues to grow, publish its individual stories, and make available information that makes a difference to those in need. It is also amazing that there remains this type of homelessness, desperation, and need in Orange County California.
I've lived in OC for 20 years & never heard of these Amazing resources as Connect-OC and Partners for Wellness! Thank you ProjectWHY for Showcasing & Publicizing such a fantastic and heart-warming services, all in one place!
Oh my goodness!! It’s so nice to hear about a resource for homeless that specifically pertains to mental illness, as this is such an overlooked problem and it is commonly looked down upon rather than empathized with.