Mental health is impacted by much more than people usually realize -- aside from biological and psychological factors, social factors such as housing insecurity, community violence, and mass incarceration create deep trauma and stress that play an important role in people’s mental well-being:
Housing insecurity directly impacts mental well being. Whether it's difficulty paying rent, overcrowded living conditions, eviction, or homelessness, housing insecurity exposes individuals and families to increased stress and both mental and physical health problems -- it significantly increases the risk for many psychiatric disorders.
Community violence is also a factor in mental health disorders: various studies have found that higher exposure to community violence was associated with internalizing mental health symptoms, especially in adolescents. This exposure creates long-lasting anxiety and stress, impacting mental health and day-to-day coping.
Incarceration, which disproportionately impacts people of color, people with lower educations, and people with mental health problems, can exacerbate existing mental health conditions. Exposure to violence in prisons and jails can also lead to the development of post-traumatic stress symptoms like anxiety, depression, avoidance, hypersensitivity, hyper-vigilance, suicidality, flashbacks, and difficulty with the emotional regulation of this population.
To tackle these issues, BOSS offers help with housing programs and re-entry services that helps people improve their health, safety, and quality of life. We provide resources such as rental assistance and reentry housing; Neighborhood Impact Hubs in various locations in the Oakland area offer support for preventing violence, medical care like HIV tests, and ,career training to help people reintegrate with their family and community.
To help fight the underlying causes of systemic racism, inequity, and racially biased policies, BOSS has partnered with Californians for Safety and Justice and Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership to create a statewide association of reentry organizations that influence policy design and distribution of resources - the Re-Entry Providers Association of California (REPAC).
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