La Vida Nueva

Anyone who knows us knows that our favorite organization in town to refer clients to is Garden Pathways. What a lot of people don’t know is that one of our beloved employees is a graduate of their program! Ben Abdulla is a shining example of what unconditional love, mentorship, and meeting people where they’re at can do to transform someone’s life. Ben has been with La Vida Nueva for more than a year and has been promoted multiple times already. He is a Certified Peer Support Specialist and is also in school to become an AOD Counselor. Ben brings his light to our office every day. Clients are comfortable sharing their joys and traumas with him, enjoy attending his peer support groups, and you will seldom see Ben’s office empty. We are so grateful to our friends at Garden Pathways for making it possible for Ben to be a vital member of the team at La Vida Nueva! Below is a video of Ben’s story, created by Garden Pathways and featuring La Vida Nueva. We are so proud of the work our partners are doing for the community and grateful to be a part of Ben’s story. https://lnkd.in/gViZP5ap

Last night, these amazing ladies (along with several others) won staff awards! Our team is the only reason we are able to do what we do. Thank you to all of our passionate employees for their hard work and dedication to our patients. Guadalupe Juarez, Program Director won the Executive’s Award. Madlyn Scott, Associate Therapist won the Team Player Award. Vanessa Sanchez and Allysa Kennedy, SUD Counselors won the MVP Award. Salina Perez, Supervising Counselor won the Innovation Award. Well done!! ?? #recovery #behavioralhealth #wedorecover #staffappreciation

Join us today to celebrate this joyous occasion! It’s La Vida Nueva’s 40th birthday ?? We will be celebrating with food, raffles, and recovery stories from our amazing clients. Please come see us and join in the fun at 4PM. We can’t wait to see you there!

Employee Spotlight: Meet Ben Abdulla! We met Ben at a career fair held by Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services in November of 2023. He came to our table toward the end of the event, turned in an application, cracked a few jokes, and we parted ways. Ben called us for about 2 months, following up on his application, but we were working on getting our Supervising Counselor onboarded so we had to wait to make the hire. He never got discouraged and continued to follow up, like clockwork. In January, Ben called again and we were ready. We asked him to come on site to interview and brought him on as a counseling intern. A few short months later, Ben was promoted to a part-time position, which recently turned into a full-time role. Today, we watched Ben graduate from one of our favorite organizations in town, Garden Pathways. Ben is on a path to success. He is a Registered Alcohol and Drug Technician (RADT), attending CSUB for Drug and Alcohol Studies, working toward his Peer Support Specialist Certification, and coaching little league in his spare time. Ben is the first staff member to volunteer for any event and brings so much joy into the office. Congratulations, Ben! ??

Today, we collaborated with City of Bakersfield Animal Care Center and Kern S.A.F.E. on a presentation called “Pets and Recovery.” Our clients learned about the benefits of having a pet during substance use disorder recovery, emotional support animals, opportunities to be of service to our furry friends, and enjoyed a pizza lunch! They also got to play with six adoptable dogs, three of which are pictured here. If you see your new best friend in any of these photos, please contact the Bakersfield Animal Care Center for more information! #adoptdontshop #recovery

Our Grand Opening tonight was a smashing success! Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate and support us, to everyone who donated, and to those who helped make this event happen. We heard from several former and current clients, who shared what La Vida Nueva has done for them (tears were shed). We are so grateful for our clients. All of this — the new building, this party, everything — is for them ??

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We’re moving!!! In order to meet the needs of our community, La Vida Nueva is growing. We will be moving to a larger building in August and want to share this joy with our friends in the community. Our new, 5,700 square foot facility will allow us to serve many more individuals who need help with their substance use disorder in Kern County and will also allow us space to offer a larger variety of services for our beneficiaries. Come see us on Friday, July 19th between 5-7PM to check out our new clinic, hear from some speakers, and enjoy refreshments.

KCHC and BRS’ outpatient programs will be playing a friendly game of Recovery Baseball on June 8th at Beach Park. #recovery #baseball #substanceusedisorder

Check out the stunning bulletin board Therapist Andrés put together for Mental Health Awareness Month! We talk about mental health services all year long, but this month, we’ll be sharing even more resources with our clients and with the community! Stay tuned all month long for education, resources, and more! And, most importantly, go to therapy ?? #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #therapy #endthestigma