Mental Health Awareness with the Nopal Kweenz!
We have made some amazing connections through the past few years and we are SO thankful we were brave enough to explore our creative side. We have continued to be inspired by one of our fave Podcasts and the group of women behind it who are working hard to bring awareness to mental health, the Nopal Kweenz! This creative gal gang is made up of La Luna, La Rosa and La Sirena. Keep reading for a peak into what inspired them to take the leap into their creative project. Follow them on Insta @NopalKweenz and make sure to tune into their Podcast to learn more about mental health issues in the Latinx community!
Image provided by Nopal Kweenz
La Sierna
“I've always felt that my family and community have done our best to help each other when times get hard, but without the words to name what's happening and the understanding of mental health, we can only do so much, as is common with many Latinx families. Later in my life, when I began my professional career as a therapist, I intentionally used the knowledge I had about mental health to make sure my clients had the words to help their families with education and healing. La Luna, La Rosa and I were having dinner one evening and talking about our shared experiences with this and decided to create a platform that we could use to provide this knowledge and education to a larger Latinx community. I'm so proud to be a part of this project and found passion and direction in this podcast program, and I hope that our gente enjoy the content and feel empowered to seek the healing and support they very much deserve. When we seek the help we need, we're not only helping ourselves now, but setting an example and improving the future of tomorrow for our gente.”
La Rosa
“I have always valued the importance of family and living in community with others. My parents instilled in me the value of helping our gente throughout different situations that life has us go through. Growing up with this perspective has directly influenced my career path as a Social Worker. As a Bi-lingual Social Worker, I provide and advocate for culturally sensitive and competent services for the Latinx community I serve. I was drawn to my amigas (La Luna and La Sirena) because we shared similar perspectives about increasing education and discussion about mental health within our Latinx community. Since the beginning, we have been very passionate about our podcast and we were able to make our dream into reality. We continually strive to educate and empower our community to talk about mental health, as well as to seek their own definition of healing and wellness. We encourage others to create safe spaces for people to talk about their mental health, as well as to support one another on their mental wellness journey.”
La Luna
“I was at a point in my life where I felt like I had a lot to say and decided that I wanted to do something about it. One day, I randomly stumbled across Latinx podcasts and became flooded with so many emotions because I had finally found a platform that I could relate to. As I began to listen to these podcasts, I felt inspired and decided that I too wanted to create a podcast. One evening, I was hanging out with two of my close friends, we were chatting in the car about burnout and the challenges that we were experiencing in our field regarding stigma and a lack of representation for Latinx in Mental health. At that moment, I decided to pitch them this crazy idea of starting a podcast. I figured hey we are smart and we are educated why not use our education to create a space for Latinx folx? A space where we could talk about the things that we were feeling in this very moment. At first, I did not know what I wanted to do or how to go about it. I was lucky enough that these amazing womyn in my life were also experiencing similar things. They had the same passion for our field and through our shared experiences we founded Nopal Kweenz. We developed a vision together and together we started to research and brainstorm what we wanted to say on this platform and who we wanted this platform to be for. Together, we decided to dismantle stigmas that exist in Latinx communities regarding Mental Health by spreading awareness and knowledge through our podcast. We each have our own talents, personality and unique perspectives and together we are able to come together and create magic. I would have never imagined that my friends and I would make it this far. It is pretty exciting to see how a simple idea turned into a vision and that vision turned into a podcast. I am so grateful to work alongside such talented womyn. This podcast would not have been possible if it weren't for all of the listeners who have shown us so much support and love. I am excited to continue creating content with my amazing friends and I look forward to our future together as Nopal Kweenz!”
Image provided by Nopal Kweenz
We hope y’all are feeling as inspired as us to not let any feeling hold us back from sharing the knowledge and passion we have built up in our lives! Thank you to Las Nopal Kweenz for sharing your story with us and continually inspiring us!
xoxo
S&A
