Welcome to the CASRA Newsletter

In this issue:

At this near midpoint of Mental Health Awareness Month, we have decided to forgo our usual lineup of articles in hopes you can slow down for a moment or two so you may experience ripples of kindness, dance outdoors in nature, take joy in the image of sumo wrestlers as care givers, and want to be a hummingbird too.

Enjoy!

If you have news you would like to share or a colleague you would like to spotlight because of the great work they do or just because they are a great person or both, let us know by contacting joe@casra.org.

A benefit of membership in CASRA is receiving four hours of training for your staff. For more information, please contact joe@casra.org

If you are a CASRA member agency and would like to advertise your learning opportunity, training or event for the benefit of other CASRA member agencies, please contact us at events@casra.org.
There are a few guidelines:
-You are a CASRA Member Agency
-Your event is free of charge
and, as a reminder the Newsletter is published on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month

A Photo Gallery now resides on the EVENTS page of the CASRA website and currently consists of albums of the 2024 Spring and the 2025 Fall CASRA Gatherings. We plan on adding more albums in the future.

If you have photos of your agency's events you would like to share with other CASRA members, contact joe@casra.org.

To view the current albums in the Photo Gallery, CLICK HERE.

The  CASRA Learning Library and its contents are free to CASRA member organizations and their staff. The Library is located in the Member Portal on the CASRA website here. More detailed instructions on how to access and use the Library can also be found on the CASRA website when logged on the Portal.

Our hope is that the Library's offerings will provide learning opportunities that will serve as part of CASRA agencies' onboarding processes for new staff, as well as be a resource of Recovery oriented values and practices for all staff. 

Access to the Learning Library is currently limited to CASRA member agencies and their staff. We hope to expand availability in the future.

For questions and more information contact Joe Ruiz - joe@casra.org.

Our member agencies are continually looking for new employees or volunteers to join their workforce.

To see current openings and find out additional information about CASRA Member Agencies, please click below.

CASRA facilitates a number of support groups for people working at CASRA member agencies. The support groups provide people working in similar roles opportunities to share experiences, information, and challenges. They meet monthly for approximantely one hour. for more information contact the person listed for each group.

Social Rehabilitation Facilities (SRF)
Meets: First Tuesday of the month at 1 PM

Human Resources
Meets: First Thursday of the month at 11 AM

Employment/Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Meets: First Thursday of the month at 3 PM

For information regarding any of the above groups contact:
Chad Costello, chad@casra.org

Wellness Services (Well Talk)
The Wellness Services support group is now online. For more info contact Joe Ruiz, joe@casra.org

CASRA is a statewide organization of private, not-for-profit, public benefit corporations that serve clients of the California public mental health system.

Member agencies provide a variety of services that are designed to enhance the quality of life and community participation of youth, adults and older adults living with challenging mental health issues. Read more

The California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies

Mailing Address:
3350 E. 7th Street, #509
Long Beach, CA 90804

Email: casra@casra.org

Phone: (562) 343-2621

To reach us: use our Contact Form

Kindness: The Ripple That Changes Everything

Personal Perspective: Healing Through Kindness: A Journey From Despair To Hope.

From psychologytoday.com
By Leon Logothetis, May 12, 2025

We’ve all experienced moments of despair. But sometimes, it takes a single act of kindness to remind us that hope isn’t lost—it’s within us. Here’s a rumbling in the world—a quiet but undeniable craving for kindness. Can you feel it? I can. And I have, for years. It’s what’s driven me across continents, into strangers’ homes, and more recently, into myself.

What began as a journey outward became something much deeper. It became a calling to reconnect—to hope, to love, and to the often-overlooked power of simple human kindness.

I’ve seen firsthand how one small act can change a life. I’ve felt it myself. And that’s what my latest journey to India in search of freedom is all about. It’s not a polished tale of triumph. It’s raw. It’s real. It’s my truth—one that I hope resonates with others. Read More

May Cause Joy: The Full-Spectrum Health Benefits of Dance

Medical Research Is Unearthing Lasting Physical and Cognitive Effects That Go Well Beyond Simple Fitness.

From reasontobecheerful.world
By Michaela Haas, May 15, 2026

When musician David Byrne, the founder of Reasons to be Cheerful, performed at the sold-out Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles last fall, the entire crowd was on its feet for almost the entire show. I danced enthusiastically for nearly two hours straight, feeling a kind of unfiltered joy that’s rare to access in everyday life.

The experience reminded me that I used to love dance but somehow lost the habit. The following month I signed up for “Groove Therapy” with a local dance teacher, Leah Lynn. The youngest in our group is 16, the oldest over 70. Every Saturday, we play out a verb each of us brings to class — release, gather, resist, invite — translating abstract intentions into motion. It sounds faintly ridiculous. It is also, disarmingly, effective. Within minutes, something shifts. Stress loosens. Then for the next hour, we learn hip hop shuffles and swing our hips to Kool & the Gang or Beyoncé. I always return home exhausted and exhilarated.

The dance classes provoked such a profound shift in my mood as well as my body that I decided to find out if there was more to it. Read More

Why Your Emotional Bond With Nature Is Good for You

A Study of 38,000 People Around the World Finds That People Who Feel Connected to Nature Are More Hopeful, Purposeful and Resilient.

From greatergood.berkeley.edu
By Stylianos Syropoulos, Christina Jinhee Capozzoli, Lea Barbett, May 15, 2026

When life feels overwhelming, many people instinctively turn to nature. A walk in a park. Sitting by the ocean. Watching a sunset. Is this just a pleasant feeling, or is there something deeper at work?

A multitude of studies have linked spending time in nature with different aspects of mental health and wellness. For example, immersing oneself in outdoor natural spaces seems to lift depression and influence brain activity patterns. The effect may be especially relevant in children. But most research on this question has looked at people living in so-called WEIRD societies—Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic.

As environmental psychologists based in the U.S. and in Germany, we were part of a team of more than 100 researchers who set out to examine this phenomenon on a global scale and determine how consistent it is around the world. Read More

Japan’s New Care Workers: Bodybuilders, Wrestlers and M.M.A. Fighters

Young athletes are being recruited to plug a staff shortage in Japan’s nursing homes. The results are reshaping elder care.

From nytimes.com
By Javier Hernandez and Hisako Ueno, April 25, 2026

Japan’s nursing homes and care centers face a daunting crisis: an ongoing influx of elderly patients and a dearth of workers to care for them.

Some are turning to an unconventional solution, recruiting bodybuilders, mixed martial arts fighters and sumo wrestlers to take on roles as caregivers in an industry where men have long been scarce.

The unusual arrangement has given steady work to athletes, who typically have short careers and struggle to find high-paying jobs. They also get perks like free housing, gym memberships and protein supplements. [caption1]

If you or someone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, there are resources available to provide free and confidential support. Call 988 or the Teen Line at 1-800-TLC-TEEN or The Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 for LGBTQ young people.

Project Return Peer Support Network (PRPSN) Provides certified WRAP training

CASRA member agency Project Return Peer Support Network (PRPSN) is now a licensed Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). PRPSN's Training Institute is now a leading provider of WRAP Seminars across the West Coast, helping individuals and organizations build wellness tools that foster hope, personal responsibility, and empowerment.

 For more information or to schedule a WRAP Seminar, please contact PRPSN's Training Coordinator, Gustavo Limas at glimas@prpsn.org.

Learn More

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

I will be a hummingbird

As told by Wangari Maathai