Nov 3 – Founding Convention of Silicon Valley Allied for the Common Good
Foothill Community Presbyterian Church is one of 18 institutions in Santa Clara County coalescing into a broad-based community organization where member institutions work together to create positive change in our community. As a sponsoring committee, our network has already addressed some safety issues in West San Jose, conducted community walks with elected officials, and helped add more than $100,000 to the town budget of Los Gatos to focus on serving the unhoused.
Here one of Foothill’s members shares her story of concern for the community and why it is important that we build this network of institutions (interfaith and secular) to have power to create some desperately needed change.
“My name is Rosemary Kokes, a member of Foothill Community Presbyterian Church in East San Jose. 30 years ago my daughter, who was 12, developed major depression. and became suicidal. I called her psychologist, and by the next day she had a spot at Pacific Center, an inpatient facility for youth in San Jose hospital. She received inpatient care for several weeks, and then was transferred to an excellent outpatient program at the same facility. It was not an easy time, but we were able to access therapy, education, psychiatric care, and family support. This mental health care saved her life.
It was local, accessible, immediate, and thorough. Such mental health care no longer exists in our community. More recently, my granddaughter developed severe depression. As a teen, she spent several days in the ER before psychiatric care was found for her… all the way in San Francisco. She was discharged after 3 days.
During her second crisis, she again spent several days in the ER before she was transferred… this time to Marin County. The care she received was not local, not immediate, and not thorough.
This challenge is not ours alone. One of my pastor’s children was only able to access psychiatric care by being transferred to Walnut Creek. An adult member of our congregation had to wait 3 weeks in the halls of Regional Medical Center waiting for space in a psychiatric inpatient facility. Mental healthcare in Santa Clara county is not local, not immediate and not thorough.
To be required to drive more than an hour from the 13th largest city in the country to access mental healthcare is unacceptable. We need local, immediate, and thorough care… and we must work together.
Building coalitions like Silicon Valley Allied for the Common Good gives me hope that we can save the lives of people like my granddaughter, your children and grandchildren, and our friends.”
Silicon Valley Allied for the Common Good will have its Founding Convention on November 3rd at 2:30pm at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Our Executive Presbyter, Neal Presa, will be one of our honored guests as well as Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei and the Bishops of the ELCA and the Catholic Church. Your congregation and you are invited to join Foothill and 18 other institutions as we commit to this work.
If you are interested in sending a delegation of 2 or more folks as an official guest institution, please email Rev. Lindsay Woods Wong at RevLAWW@gmail.com
You can register through the QR code on the image or via this link:
https://forms.gle/VXSKWboxwbjFuoR78.