LOS ANGELES — As Mental Health Awareness Month comes to an end, Spectrum News visited an event a part of a month-long initiative all about mental wellness in Los Angeles County.
We Rise 2022 events included book festivals, diaper drives, tree plantings and much more held throughout the month of May. The events also included a film festival and workshop in South Los Angeles.
High school senior Leslie Perez took part in a recent film workshop held at Mercado La Paloma at Esperanza Community Housing.
“Photography and filmmaking has been one of my top things I’ve been wanting to do because I just find it fascinating,” she said.
Her fascination was enough of a reason to get Perez out of the house for one of the first times since the pandemic to the film workshop.
During the pandemic, Perez said she didn’t want to go out as much and felt very isolated and unmotivated to do things.
“I would sleep like all the time,” she said. “It was like I was getting depressed.”
Her mother convinced her to join the workshop. The nonprofit Esperanza Community Housing earned funding to host a free film festival and class through We Rise.
Community Forward Co-Director Robin Garcia said We Rise is an initiative that helps support nonprofits to host community events all month long to address different needs in the community. The focus is on health and healing in many forms.
“With We Rise, what we’re saying is, racism is a mental health issue,” Garcia said. “Not being able to find employment can become a mental health issue. Not being able to have good and healthy food, or afford food, can become a mental health issue. So, all of the social issues that we are facing today can become mental health issues.”
Sandy Navarro, a self-described community health worker and organizer, said she founded the South Central Los Angeles Film Festival as a part of We Rise to help promote self-expression for young adults.
“It’s really a space for them to… gain skills… connect with other kids and… to share.”
Navarro said storytelling can be a way to help people talk about shared challenges. She said through film or storytelling, people can “inspire healing and let folks know that their story matters.”
Perez made a black-and-white film using an 8 mm camera she learned to use during the film workshop. Her film, “Colors Through Black and White” was included in the South Central Los Angeles Film Festival held May 20-21, 2022 at Mercado La Paloma, the same place she took part in the film workshop.
She explained the point of her film, which featured her sister and friends.
“Throughout the pandemic, the lives of people were in black and white. Through my film you’ll that more as color, friendship and all the positivity that wasn’t happening during the pandemic.”
She said making the film was a great outlet to express herself. But Perez said the workshop itself provided her connection with others.
“Some of the kids we talked about it, and our stories were kind of very similar throughout the whole pandemic,” she said. “It gave me a little bit of peace knowing that I’m not the only one who struggled throughout the pandemic.”
Perez said she gained a sense of connection through a shared interest in storytelling. Garcia says We Rise hopes to make these types of events available all the time.
“The goal of We Rise is to become a long-term program so that it doesn’t just have one execution that we build up to every year in May. But it’s an ongoing program where there could be free resources, wellness resources, art activities and creating opportunities for everybody across the county, all-year round.”
We Rise originally started at the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, but has evolved into an independent, community-driven initiative through public and private funding.