Who We Are
The Ravenswood Wellness Partnership (RWP) is a unique collaborative of mental health and community organizations in East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park working together to increase capacity and access to culturally appropriate mental health services and support for Ravenswood youth—leading to earlier intervention and better outcomes.
Why We’re Here
The vibrant and multicultural communities of East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park are rich in history and diversity and have shown amazing strength and resilience, especially during the pandemic. Countless community members and organizations are working collaboratively to support Ravenwood children and families, yet recent data* shows inequities and challenges still remain:
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93% of students live below federal poverty line
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43% of students are homeless or housing insecure
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53% of students are English language learners
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99% of students are students of color
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In the US Surgeon General’s urgent youth mental health advisory, he states that “socioeconomically disadvantaged children andadolescents—for instance, those growing up in poverty—are 2-3 times more likely to develop mental health conditions than peers with higher socioeconomic status.”
The Ravenswood Wellness Partnership is showing up for students and families in our community. We are collaborating and innovating to build a more equitable system of care that supports the mental health and wellness of all Ravenswood youth.
Mission & Goals
Our mission is to provide youth and families in East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park with quality mental health care by increasing coordination, capacity and access to culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services.
- Capacity: Increase Mental Health Service Capacity
- Access: Increase Access to Mental Health Services
- Coordination: Improve Mental Health System Coordination
History of the Ravenswood Wellness Partnership
In 2018, thanks to a research and development grant from the Sand Hill Foundation, we hired an independent researcher to conduct a needs assessment to better understand the mental health needs of youth and families in the Ravenswood community. The study included 150 hours of research and 40+ interviews with schools, organizations, community leaders and families in East Palo Alto and Belle Haven. Validated findings revealed potential opportunities to increase service capacity, access and system coordination in Ravenswood. Many of the organizations who participated in the study became founding members of the Ravenswood Wellness Partnership.
Practicum Program in Psychology
The RWP Training Consortium Program is a one-year, practicum in clinical psychology with a training focus on child/family psychology, trauma-informed care and community-based mental health. Practicum students are involved in various clinical activities at partner agencies delivering services in East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park. The consortium training program provides intensive training in the treatment of children, adolescents and families in a robust community-based, interdisciplinary setting, and helps increase the stream of qualified, bilingual clinicians to support the mental health and wellbeing needs of youth in the Ravenswood community.
RWP Training Consortium Practicum Program in Psychology – Academic Year 2023-2024 (PDF)
Program Partners include:
Connect to Care
REFER A FAMILY TO THE RAVENSWOOD WELLNESS PARTNERSHIP FOR ASSISTANCE.
Dr. Murtaza is the Ravenswood Program Coordinator and a Staff Psychologist at CHC who is passionate about working with diverse children, adolescents and families through a framework of evidence-based practice and cultural humility. She entered the field of psychology with a desire to reduce mental health disparities and promote resilience in every client and family with whom she works. Throughout her training, Dr. Murtaza has worked with children, teens, young adults, adults and families with a range of presenting problems, including anxiety, depression, self-harm/suicidality, ADHD, behavioral challenges, trauma and adjustment difficulties. She has conducted individual, group and family therapy, psychological assessment, consultation-liaison work, program evaluation and outreach in a variety of settings, including outpatient community mental health clinics, a college counseling center and pediatric hospitals. Dr. Murtaza has provided these services in multiple languages including English, Urdu/Hindi, and Spanish.
La Dra. Murtaza es la coordinadora del programa de Ravenswood y una psicóloga del personal de CHC a la que le apasiona trabajar con niños, adolescentes y familias diversas a través de un marco de práctica basada en la evidencia y humildad cultural. Ingresó al campo de la psicología con el deseo de reducir las disparidades de salud mental y promover la resiliencia en cada cliente y familia con los que trabaja. A lo largo de su formación, la Dra. Murtaza ha trabajado con niños, adolescentes, adultos jóvenes, adultos y familias con una variedad de problemas, como ansiedad, depresión, autolesiones/suicidio, TDAH (en ingles ADHD), problemas de comportamiento, trauma y dificultades de adaptación. Ha llevado a cabo terapia individual, grupal y familiar, evaluación psicológica, trabajo de consulta y enlace, evaluación de programas y alcance en una variedad de entornos, incluidas clínicas de salud mental comunitarias para pacientes ambulatorios, un centro de asesoramiento universitario y hospitales pediátricos. La Dra. Murtaza ha brindado estos servicios en varios idiomas, incluidos Inglés, Urdu/Hindi y Español.
Zahra Murtaza, PhD
Ravenswood Program Manager and Licensed Psychologist
ravenswood@chconline.org
650.702.2487
Ravenswood Wellness Partner Directory
Organization
Website
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula
California Children’s Trust
CHC
San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS)
Child Mind Institute
Counseling & Support Services for Youth (CASSY)
Stanford Medicine: Early Life Stress and Resilience Program
One East Palo Alto
The Primary School
Ravenswood City School District
Ravenswood Education Foundation
Ravenswood Family Health Network
Support the Ravenswood Wellness Partnership
WE CAN BUILD A BRIGHTER FUTURE, TOGETHER.
The Ravenswood Wellness Partnership is made possible thanks to generous funding from the Sand Hill Foundation’s Wellness Partnership initiative and a grant from The Battery Foundation.
The partnership continues to seek funding to advance our collective work. For more information, please contact Lori McGilpin.
Lori McGilpin
Associate Director, Foundation Relations at CHC
lmcgilpin@chconline.org
Featured Resources
The first step toward effective culturally responsive teaching focuses on the basics. “Getting to know your students is a way to infuse some positive connections to their culture and to learning,” Muhammad says.
Leslie Gonzalez’s path to becoming a doctor was filled with overwhelming pressure, stress and anxiety. Classroom struggles, the challenge of juggling a part-time job and schoolwork — Gonzalez labeled herself a failure. And on top of that, she felt the pressure of being one of the only Latinas in her medical school setting.
Whether you know it or not, you know somebody who is autistic. So if you think autism doesn’t affect you, you’re wrong, says Eric Garcia, a senior Washington correspondent for The Independent. Garcia is the author of the book We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation.
* Source: Ravenswood City School District and US Surgeon General
