Isabel Teresa Molina Avella’s long-term presence in the community has established trusting relationships with diverse partners to find creative solutions to existing challenges. In 2011, with an awareness of the unmet mental health needs in the Latinx community, Molina, Jacqueline Gomez-Arias, and a small group of dedicated volunteers started a peer-to-peer support program. In 2013, Molina expanded the resident-led partnership and with the support of the University of Utah, founded Latino Behavioral Health Services (LBHS) with a mission to “enhance the mental health awareness and well-being of people with mental illness.” LBHS now has four offices, 15 part-time or full-time staff, and works in partnerships with organizations like the College of Social Work, University Neighborhood Partners, and Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness (USARA). From founding partner to board member, researcher and student mentor, Molina continues her service with LBHS and has been at the forefront of an effort to shift the mental health paradigm from one that diagnoses and treats individual with mental illness, to one that promotes recovery and wellbeing. Professor Molina’s scholarship is located within a community-based participatory action framework (CBPR) and is focused on Latinx mental health, how mental health is understood across diverse communities of immigrant and refugee backgrounds, and how organizational processes can be changed to improve access for individuals accessing services Molina has also been engaged with university-community global partnerships. She is one of the founding faculty members of Bridging Borders (BB), a global collective of educators, students and community partners working to create vital networks that lead to innovative opportunities and pathways in education for communities living at or working with those at the margins. One of those opportunities is the Case Management Certificate (CMC) which is a 9-month education program resulting in a university certificate. For her lifelong work as a brige builder, we honor Professor Molina with the Distinguished Faculty Service Award (attheu.utah.edu)
ongratulations, Dr. Teresa Molina, on receiving the award for providing comprehensive care to communities. Your dedication and hard work are truly inspirational to me as a social worker serving marginalized communities, including refugees who face numerous adversities. These challenges make it difficult for them to cope, particularly for men, who are in many African cultures, and are traditionally seen as the heads of their families and primary providers. When they are unable to fulfill these roles, it can lead to a loss of dignity and negative coping mechanisms.