When I first took on the challenge and honor of representing you and all District 3 residents on the Pasadena City Council, our District meetings and neighborhood conversations revealed significant concerns and an overwhelming desire for essential healthcare and mental health outpatient services in the City of Pasadena. The inability to care for our mental health can have lasting effects on our quality of life and ability to thrive as an individual and community— I heard this need. One of the first requests I made as your council member to the Mayor and City Manager was about bringing these services to our community. I was informed of the current efforts and immediately joined to ensure this came to fruition. We are working methodically to bring mental health outpatient services to Pasadena by collaborating with our County partners, local partners at Huntington Hospital, and District 3 institutions: Fuller School of Psychology and Pacific Oaks College. 

The City Council will consider a detailed report of this joint venture at the beginning of our council meeting this Monday. I am calling on each of you to lend your voice to this necessary need in Pasadena: submit a public comment, call into the meeting, or write an email to the council. We must work collaboratively to make quality and thoughtful decisions on how we address mental health in our City. 

You may find the full report and Los Angeles County motion here: https://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/2023%20Agendas/Mar_13_23/AR%20A.pdf

Mental health is not a stigma; it affects each of us – so it’s imperative that we, as a City, work to address this together.