​​​MHCAN of Santa Cruz

Mental Health Client Action Network

1051 Cayuga 831-469-0462


The Only Mental Health Peer-Run Organization

in Santa Cruz, CA

Why Peer Support?

     Health Homes in Oregon using Peer Support as one component of Health Care in Oregon lowered overall Health Care costs by 30%.  
     Peer support works to help people transform their lives.  
     Every peer support worker at MHCAN has been trained in Intentional Peer Support, an Evidence Based method of communication that maximizes self-agency for people with serious diagnoses like schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, PTSD, anxiety disorder & others.  
     MHCAN Peer Support Workers are all trained in Trauma Informed Care, educated on The ACE Study and are all in recovery on  their own life paths which have included major mental health diagnoses.  



Why Does Being "Peer Run" Matter? ​


     MHCAN is the ONLY peer run organization providing peer support services in Santa Cruz County. Only a real peer run organization tends to hold true to what a peer really is... 
     Nothing feels more alone than to be with someone who doesn't really understand...  
     At MHCAN, we take pride in our differences.  We are diverse folks who have lived with and through our varied diagnoses with courage and skills.
     Everyone who works for MHCAN, including the Executive Director, has been diagnosed with a major             Mental Health Diagnosis or as some people say, a "Serious Mental Illness" or SMI.  
     We are gifted that way; there are things we learn from different states of being which can guide us and help us to guide others along similar pathways of difference.  
     There is no need to feel alone with someone who really understands.  ​