Strengthening Community Resilience Through Critical Mental Health and Crisis Intervention Training

In 2025, Cypress Resilience Project, a program of the Public Health Institute, reached a milestone of serving over 30,500 people since its start in 2020. Participants from 33 states, united by their desire to be better prepared to help others, developed skills to help someone struggling with grief, manage a crisis or de-escalate a conversation before it gets out of hand. Each of the participants’ stories is unique, but the thread of being prepared binds them together and makes them the Cypress community.

Accomplishments in 2025 include:

• Named Top MHFA Instructors in CA for the 4th consecutive year by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
• Increased and diversified the instructor team
• Added QPR (Question-Persuade-Refer) Suicide Prevention training to the menu of certifications
• Launched a “Lunch & Learn” workshop series open to the public on topics like Preventing Burnout, De-escalation Skills, and How to Support Someone Navigating Loss
• Presented to law enforcement officers in Stanislaus County about Building Trust During Crisis Response
• Hosted a training series for Big Brothers Big Sisters and Habitat for Humanity
• Created online learning modules that people can access on their own time