Cabrillo College has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to implement the Veterans Mental Health Demonstration Project. The two-year grant is one of 10 awarded to community colleges statewide for the project term starting November 2024 through November 2026.
“Cabrillo’s Veterans Information Center (VIC) has been recognized statewide as a model for providing wraparound services and resources to student veterans,” said Matt Wetstein, Cabrillo College president and superintendent. “The awarding of this Chancellor’s Office grant allows us to expand veterans mental health services, while creating professional development programs that enable all Cabrillo faculty and staff to participate in supporting our student veterans.”
The grant funding will help to establish and increase local, regional, statewide and intersegmental partnerships to expand campus support, resources and enrollment for transitioning military service members, prioritizing mental health services.
“With this grant, we’re able to expand the Cabrillo College VIC’s commitment to veterans’ mental health and overall well-being, ensuring they have access to essential support and resources,” said Dr. Devin Walker, Cabrillo College Director of Student Success and Equity. “This funding will help us to provide veterans with the care and community they need to thrive at Cabrillo College and beyond.”
The grant will also help facilitate professional development opportunities to educate campus faculty and staff on the unique needs of student military service members, providing trauma-informed approaches and regional resources to foster a campus of visible allies that supports and promotes the overall success of veterans and service members.
At Cabrillo, this will be a VET NET Ally training program, offered at Cabrillo’s VIC as a faculty and staff awareness program to expand campus-wide allyship around the needs and concerns of military veterans.
“We are thrilled and extremely grateful to receive this grant to support our veterans,” said Juan Diego (J.D.) Alvarez, Cabrillo College Veteran Programs Coordinator. “This grant is a game-changer and will allow us here at the VIC to provide critical mental health services to our veterans, helping them heal and thrive here at Cabrillo and within our community.”
The grant will also enable the development of peer-to-peer student veteran networks and programs. It will provide funding for student wellness ambassadors through Cabrillo’s Student Health Services department and aid in the creation of external partnerships with local veteran agencies, to extend the veterans mental health resources and support off campus and in the local community.
Among others, these local partnerships will include the Santa Cruz Veterans Center, as well as Veterans Centers at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) and University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC), to provide a clear transfer pathway for transitioning military service members.
Funding from the grant will also help expand mental health counseling at Cabrillo for veterans and provide more organic opportunities for Cabrillo student veterans to engage in holistic health and well-being practices such as art therapy, stress management and mental health first aid training.
