Ukandu

"This year, Mental Health America’s Mental Health Month theme centers around creating “More Good Days.” I love that framing because a good day doesn’t have to mean a perfect one. Sometimes a good day is simply getting through the day. Sometimes it’s laughing unexpectedly. Sometimes it’s remembering to eat lunch, answering the text, taking the walk, asking for help, or finally admitting you’re tired."

Ukandu Clinical Director, Joel Lampert, PsyD, shared his thoughts and reflection on Mental Health Awareness Month for this week's installment of 'More Than Medicine.' Read more here: https://www.ukandu.org/blog/mental-health-awareness-month

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

A cancer diagnosis doesn't just happen to the child, it happens to an entire family. And in Oregon, the mental health crisis makes an already impossible situation even harder.
According to Mental Health America, Oregon ranks among the bottom in the nation for mental health care, with a high prevalence of mental health challenges and low access to care for both youth and adults. At the same time, far too many Oregonians are unable to find in-network providers or affordable care, and cost remains a leading barrier to treatment.

For families navigating childhood cancer, that gap is unacceptable. Families facing the unimaginable need support now, and they need it without having to jump through dozens of hoops.

That's why Ukandu's new resource center for families battling childhood cancer, The Loft, will feature an onsite behavioral health clinic offering free individual and group therapy, along with processing and affinity groups designed to meet families exactly where they are - all 100% free of charge.

Families need more than medicine to heal from a childhood cancer diagnosis because healing looks like more than scans and treatment plans. It looks like a place to grieve, process, connect, and breathe.

It’s volunteer appreciation week, and it's impossible to overstate how grateful we are for the hundreds of passionate volunteers who make our year-round programs happen. 💛

Our volunteers pour their hearts, time, and energy into this community, and their impact is real and is felt by our community every day.

Whether you’ve been with us for all 40 years or you're just joining the Ukandu volunteer community, we are so grateful that you have chosen to be part of this work. It's because of volunteers that this community continues to grow and feel like a place where people can just be.

Please join us in saying THANK YOU to our incredible volunteer community!