Orange Coast College Wins $250,000 Grant for Student Mental Health Programs

I'm proud to announce that one of our favorite clients, Orange Coast College (OCC), has just won a competitive $250,000 grant from the California Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) for its new student mental health program. OCC was eighth on the list for its project beating out competitors like College of the Canyons, LA Harbor-City Consortia, Rio Hondo College and Santiago Canyon College. This grant will pay for specialized training for OCC faculty to learn how to identify and properly refer students in their classrooms who show signs of mental illness or potentially violent behavior.

In addition, the grant will pay for a regional educational summit on the challenges of dealing with students with mental health or dual diagnosis issues along with efforts to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness among community members.

All in all, this particular grant was a great example of the importance of getting an early start on a quick first draft and of collecting a ton of letters of support indicating that the community is excited to implement and benefit from the grant project. The way I look at it, you sometimes need to tell the funder that if you do not get a grant, then a lot of people are going to be very disappointed. Ironically, grant writers can take along hostages and succeed.  Depressed students and faculty members, however, are better off turning to pills and cognative therapy.