NYC Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health (OCMH) Executive Director Eva Wong and VIP Community Services Community Health Worker Apprentice and Bronx native Denise Velez spoke with PIX11’s Monica Morales about NYC’s first nationally registered Behavioral Health-Community Health Worker (BH-CHW) Apprenticeship.

Created in partnership with CUNY Hostos Community College, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc., 1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds, and H-CAP, Healthcare Career Advancement Program, the BH-CHW Apprenticeship helps expand and diversify the behavioral health workforce to better meet the mental health needs of communities across the five boroughs while addressing the behavioral health workforce shortage and creating living-wage career pathways for trusted community members.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this feature, to Monica and her team for elevating the Apprenticeship, and to the many partners working together to strengthen New York City’s behavioral health workforce!

🔗 Watch the Monica Makes it Happen segment here: https://pix11.com/video/bronx-woman-making-it-happen-through-community-health-and-apprenticeship-monica-makes-it-happen/11866500/

🔗 Learn more about community health workers here: https://mentalhealth.cityofnewyork.us/workforce-new-yorkers-in-behavioral-health 

🔗 Learn more about the Apprenticeship here: https://mentalhealth.cityofnewyork.us/bh-chw-apprenticeship