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Simply Healthcare Foundation and Overtown Youth Center to Provide Trauma and Behavioral Health ServicesSimply Healthcare Foundation is working with Overtown Youth Center (OYC) to support the OYC CARES program dedicated to offering trauma assessment and access to behavioral health services to Miami residents who have witnessed or experienced a traumatizing event. The OYC CARES program will help individuals and families overcome the potential long-term health and wellness effects associated with trauma. "At Simply Healthcare, we are constantly looking for opportunities to support our community and improve the health and wellbeing of those living in our area," said Lourdes Rivas, President & CEO, Florida Medicaid, Simply Healthcare Plans. "By working with Overtown Youth Center and supporting OYC CARES, we're able to provide professional trauma treatment to our community and significantly reduce the mental health impact often associated with witnessing a trauma." Individual responses to trauma can manifest in mental health behaviors that potentially impact child welfare, juvenile justice systems, and difficulties in education, employment and primary care. By providing psychological interventions to people who have experienced a trauma at some point in their lives, OYC CARES can prevent long-term effects that can impact a person's ability to work or maintain relationships, cause flashback episodes, nightmares or frightening thoughts, particularly in younger children. OYC CARES will also increase the education and awareness of traumatic events for parents and caregivers, thereby escalating the protective factors within the family and community that promote resiliency. "OYC recognizes the widespread impact of trauma, and understands the potential paths for resilience and recovery," said Tina Brown, Executive Director at Overtown Youth Center. "OYC CARES s taking steps to ensure that we are fully integrating knowledge about trauma into its policies, procedures, and practices while offering trauma support services that would normally not be available to members of our community." In addition to launching the OYC CARES trauma program, Simply Healthcare Foundation will be honoring Alonzo Mourning with the Health Champion Award. Established in 2015, the Health Champion Award honors individuals who have dedicated their life to leading healthy and active lifestyle and have inspired others to do the same. Honorees exude the everyday goodwill of the Simply Healthcare Foundation, and share its commitment to creating a healthier generation of Americans. "Alonzo is a shining example of a true Health Champion," said Rivas. "Through his tireless support of the Overtown Youth Center and his unrelenting commitment to improving the lives and health of members of the Miami community, Alonzo remains the embodiment of a positive health role model for local kids." Alonzo joins the elite group of other Health Champions, including fellow NBA player Spud Webb, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps. About Simply Healthcare Simply Healthcare Plans is a Florida licensed health maintenance organization that serves more than 220,000 Floridians enrolled in its Medicaid and Medicare health plans. Simply provides ongoing community relations and outreach to encourage communities to become active participants in their health care. Every day, Simply employees in Miami and Tampa strive to help keep health care simple and provide education that empowers Floridians to choose and sustain healthy lifestyles. For more information about Simply Healthcare Plans, visit www.simplyhealthcareplans.com. About Overtown Youth Center The Overtown Youth Center (OYC) was founded in 2003 by NBA Hall-of-Famer Alonzo Mourning and real estate developer Martin Z. Margulies in hopes of creating a safe haven for children living in Overtown. For over 13 years, OYC has been providing holistic programming to help youth avoid falling victim to poor education, poverty and crime. The center has graduated 100% of its high school seniors since inception and continues to send a majority of its students to college. Our main goal is to be an integral part of the community that promotes lifelong learning and bridging human welfare gaps across generations. The OYC youth development program provides comprehensive services to youth age 8 - 25 and their caregivers and family within Overtown, and the neighboring communities of Wynwood, Little Haiti, Liberty City and Allapattah. OYC's continuum of intervention services offered year-round impacts the social determinants of health for the families located within our community.
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