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PAGE 44 As a result of the changing demographics, new nonprofits have sprung up, and existing nonprofit leaders and organizations have worked to provide culturally sensitive services that contribute to creating a community where everyone feels welcomed. One service provider said: “I think there’s a lot of diversity. And I think that’s why I like working at [organization name]. There’s people from all walks of life, all different socioeconomic levels, and a lot of different cultures. And I think I’ve learned a lot from my patients about different religions, different cultures, you know, different value systems. And I think diversity is always good. It gives you a nice perspective of the world and it makes me grow as a person just to learn about different people’s different ways of life.” Health Care and Mental Health Services Access to high-quality health care providers and mental health services was another strength identified. Tri-Valley’s location offers community members great health care options. One participant noted, “clearly, we’ve got a lot of health care options between Kaiser and Valley Care and UCSF [University of California San Francisco]…” Additionally, community members said that most people had access to high-quality, affordable health care coverage through Medi-Cal. Community members also praised the wrap-around services provided by Axis Community Health. One focus group participant described these services: “I’m a marriage and family therapist so we work with emotional needs, but at Axis, we’re a wrap- around team. So if they need like resources for housing or food or they’re having transportation issues… we have care coordinators that we work with. We also consult with the doctors on the medical side… we try to meet the needs of all the patients, whatever needs they may have.” Furthermore, in response to the need for high-quality accessible mental health services, the Tri-Valley partnered with outside organizations. One participant said: “I definitely think we have seen a great success in partnering with outside resources. I think for a long time, law enforcement specifically has tried to keep everything close to the chest… We didn’t hire mental health clinicians to work for the city of Pleasanton. We subcontracted out to a company that already was doing that and providing surface services in other parts of Alameda County. So they already had the staff and the training and the experience to work effectively.” Finally, the Tri-Valley has implemented changes in how law enforcement is involved in mental health. One first responder interviewee described the alternative response unit which aimed to: “...reduce the number of involuntary psychiatric holds in the community and to be able to provide resources to the community. [The community] was pretty vocal about wanting to remove the police from non-criminal calls relating to mental health issues, and homelessness and things like that. And so from there, we [law enforcement] put together an alternate response unit…One of the missions of the unit is to provide a non-uniform response to people suffering from mental illness or who are in crisis.” Nonprofits and Supportive Services NONPROFIT SERVICES Strategic partnerships. The comprehensive services of nonprofit organizations, enhanced by the strategic partnerships with other organizations including faith-based entities, was mentioned as a significant strength of the Tri-Valley. Community members described services as helpful and appreciated the partnerships. Nonprofit leaders also expressed their support for collaboration among nonprofits. They demonstrated the importance of working together to leverage services to serve the community more effectively and stressed how important it is to be able to share ideas and work together to serve the community. Many expressed appreciation for the Tri-Valley NonProfit Alliance. “I think one of the strengths in the Tri-Valley is that we have the Tri-Valley NonProfit Alliance... EASTERN ALAMEDA COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES NEEDS ASSESSMENTSS Page 102 of 554