Executive Director's July Message

Summer is in full swing, and I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day holiday weekend. As you head outdoors to enjoy the California sunshine, make sure you keep sun protection in mind. July is UV Safety Awareness Month. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime, which makes skin cancer the most common cancer in the United States.

There are many ways to stay safe under the sun, including wearing sun protective clothing, wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses, and applying sunscreen to exposed skin. Being follicly challenged myself, I have needed to amass a hat wardrobe to keep my head warm in the winter and protect it from the sun in the summer.  Be sure to periodically do a skin self-exam and mention any concerns to your doctor at your next annual physical.

Your SFHSS benefits can also help. In addition to medical benefits to consult your doctor(s), you can also use your Healthcare Flexible Spending Account to pay for sunscreen, and prescription sunglasses.

During July,  the San Francisco Health Service System (SFHSS) is also proud to join communities nationwide in celebrating Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month—a time to honor a trailblazer’s legacy and uplift the voices too often left out of mental health conversations.

Bebe Moore Campbell was a bestselling author, tireless mental health champion, and co-founder of the Urban Los Angeles chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. In 2008, Congress designated July in her name to recognize her work dismantling stigma, uplifting marginalized voices, and expanding access to culturally responsive mental health care. Her belief in the power of community, storytelling, and healing through conversation continues to guide our mission.

This month, and every month, SFHSS is committed to breaking silence, building trust, and fostering culturally respectful care. Bebe Moore Campbell taught us that healing begins with open, honest conversation—and that’s how we move toward equity.

One way that we can all learn to participate in this conversation is by taking our 2-hour self-paced eLearning course Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Introduction Training. MHFA introduces you to workplace wellbeing practices and teaches ways to understand and reduce stigma in the workplace, to recognize and help a colleague who may be experiencing a non-crisis mental health or substance use challenge and to build a resilient mindset and implement best practices for self-care.

In good health,

Rey Guillen