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MCHC Health Centers is happy to welcome Lily Perez, an associate clinical social worker, to its Behavioral Health team. Perez, who is bilingual in English and Spanish, sees patients in Ukiah, from Monday through Wednesday at Hillside Health Center, and on Thursdays and Fridays at Dora Street Health Center.
Before joining MCHC, Perez spent eight years working locally as a social worker case manager for elderly and disabled community members through the Mendocino Department of Social Services. In that role, Perez appreciated getting to know people in the community and becoming familiar with the challenges they face and the resources available to them. She will continue to draw upon that knowledge as a mental health provider, and is grateful to continue working with some of the same populations. “The difference is that now I get to be part of their healthcare team,” she says.
MCHC Behavioral Health Director Ben Anderson says, “The behavioral health team at MCHC is thrilled to welcome Lily Perez. She brings with her a wealth of experience working with families in our community. And as a bilingual therapist, she is able to help our community get services in their preferred language.”
Perez, who has always advocated for people to have better access to healthcare, became interested in pursuing a career as a mental health provider when she noticed the gaps in care that limited people’s access to the support they needed.
“In my previous position, I came to realize that there is only so much you can do if there aren’t enough resources available,” she says, explaining that although many people sought mental health care, there was a shortage of providers. “You can refer someone to a provider, but if there are no appointments, it’s frustrating.”
Returning to school to get her master’s in social work was a way of continuing to contribute to her community. Having previously graduated with a bachelor’s in interdisciplinary health sciences from Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina, she went on to earn a master’s in social work from the University of Montana.
Her continuing education illuminated the connection between physical, mental, and emotional health. She emphasizes that behavioral health impacts everything else. Its effects are evident in obvious ways as well as subtle ones, affecting multiple intertwined areas of our lives.
“How can you prioritize your diabetes care, for instance, if you’re worried that your daughter isn’t doing well in school?” she asks. This holistic understanding of health helps her provide comprehensive and supportive care for her clients, who range in age from young children to older adults.
Perez values getting to know each client personally, learning from what they share about their lives, health, and priorities. Gaining an understanding of her patients’ everyday circumstances is critical to providing support. “It’s important to think about which factors in their environment are impacting them,” she says. “That includes what is happening now as well as things that happened when they were a child, and even how the experiences of the generations before them are impacting them today.”
Perez says many of her clients have experienced trauma, which can manifest in unexpected ways—sometimes even in their experience traveling to a medical clinic or walking into an office to receive healthcare. “If they walk into the office and there’s no one there who speaks their language, that can be traumatic. If they’ve gone to a medical facility before and they were treated poorly, that can turn them off from seeking access to healthcare in the future,” she explains.
As a fluent Spanish speaker, Perez aims to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all of her clients. “I’m really excited to work with the Spanish-speaking community,” she says. In her previous job with the County, almost all of her patients were Spanish-speaking, and she spoke and read in Spanish every day.
Connecting with her clients in their language is just one of the ways she tries to make patients feel at ease and comfortable. She also provides comfortable chairs, avoids harsh lighting, and uses a conversation style that makes people feel safe and supported.
“I want to make it clear that this space is for them,” Perez says. “I want to be a partner with my clients, partnering with them in whatever situation they are navigating. They are the experts in their own lives. The appointment is for them. I want to make sure that when they walk in, they know that this is their time.”
She looks forward to supporting her clients, and when her clients are children, supporting their parents, too. As a parent herself, she says she understands that parenting is hard work and can be triggering. “I am really excited about the idea of providing parent support, of working collaboratively with parents to support their kids’ mental health,” she said.
Outside of work, Perez enjoys spending time with her family and friends.
MCHC Health Centers includes Hillside Health Center and Dora Street Health Center in Ukiah, Little Lake Health Center in Willits, and Lakeview Health Center in Lakeport. It is a community-based and patient-directed organization that provides comprehensive primary healthcare services as well as supportive services such as education and translation that promote access to healthcare.