Built By and For the Peer Support Professionals
Table of Contents
A moment to pause.. July invites us to recognize BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month, but more importantly, it asks us to pay attention. As peer professionals, we know recovery doesn't happen in a vacuum. Culture, community, history, identity, and lived experience all shape how people experience mental health, healing, and whether they feel safe enough to ask for help in the first place. This month isn't about having all the right words. It's about listening a little longer, staying curious instead of assuming, and remembering that equitable peer support begins with understanding that no two recovery journeys look exactly alike. Whether you're supporting someone navigating systemic barriers, advocating within your organization, or reflecting on your own experiences, I hope this month's newsletter offers a few resources, conversations, and reminders that strengthen the work you're already doing. Thanks for continuing to show up for your communities. Your presence matters more than you probably realize.
3 Ways to Practice Culturally Responsive Peer Support
01. Lead with curiosity, not assumptions.
Every person’s cultural identity shapes how they understand healing, family, stigma and recovery. Ask before assuming.
02. Recognize systemic barriers.
Recovery isn’t just about individual choices. housing, discrimination, healthcare access, language, and community support all influence someone’s journey.
03. Honor lived experience beyond diagnosis.
Culture, race, spirituality, and identity aren’t side notes. They’re often central to how people make meaning of adversity and resilience.
Story Weaver Spotlight: Dara Mendoza, CPFS
Dara Mendoza, CPFS
❔Q: Tell me about bring a woman of color in recovery and the challenges you face talking about mental health in the community.
“I’ve always struggled with labels. Whether it’s labels related to gender, sexuality, addiction, or even recovery, I’ve never felt like a single word could define who I am. I’m just me. If I had to describe myself, I’d say I’m a Mexicana, born in Mexico and raised in the United States by hardworking Mexican parents who instilled strong cultural values.
As a Mexicana in recovery, I’ve had to navigate both addiction and the expectations placed on women in my culture. I grew up with the belief that women should put their families first, be strong, and hold everything together. When addiction took over my life, I carried a lot of shame because in my community people struggling with addiction are often looked down on and seen as a disgrace to the family. That shame kept me isolated from the people I loved for a long time.
Recovery has been about much more than staying sober. It’s been about working on myself, healing my inner critic, rebuilding relationships with my daughters, showing up consistently for my family, and learning to believe in myself. It’s also meant overcoming the feeling of not belonging. In many recovery spaces, I struggled with language barriers, cultural differences, and not seeing my lived experience reflected in the support being offered.
Talking about mental health in my community can be just as challenging. Growing up, mental health wasn’t really talked about. We were told things like “échale ganas” or “no te des por vencida.” Those words are meant to encourage us, but they often leave little room to talk about depression, trauma, or emotional pain. Many of us were taught to push our feelings down instead of talking about them.
Today, I share my story in hopes of helping break the stigma around both addiction and mental health. Recovery has taught me that I am more than my mistakes, more than my addiction, and more than any label. It's about becoming the best version of myself and showing others that healing is possible.”
~Dara Mendoza, CPFS, Cultural Program Coordinator for AFRC.
EVERY FRIDAY 0730AM MST
🌎PSP ECHO | Weekly Peer Connection
ECHO (Empowering Community Helping Others) is our weekly virtual gathering created exclusively for frontline Peer Support Professionals. It's a space to connect with colleagues across Colorado, share real-world challenges, celebrate wins, and remember that none of us were meant to do this work alone.
Being a Peer Professional can be incredibly rewarding... and incredibly isolating. ECHO is our weekly virtual space where frontline peers come together to ask questions, share successes, problem-solve, and support one another. No hierarchy. No pretending you've got it all figured out. Just peers helping peers.
PSP BRANCH | Monthly Networking
PSP BRANCH (Building Relationships And Networking for Community Harmony) is our monthly statewide networking event for Peer Support Professionals. Each month we gather at a different host site to build relationships, exchange ideas, highlight community resources, and strengthen the professional peer workforce one connection at a time.
Community doesn't happen by accident. BRANCH brings Peer Support Professionals together each month at locations across Colorado to network, learn from one another, and grow stronger as a workforce. Because when peers know peers, our communities benefit.
🏔️ Boulder County Peer Spotlight
🧠 Let's Talk Boulder County
Boulder County Public Health recently launched Let's Talk Boulder County, a campaign encouraging open conversations about mental well-being through local stories, videos, and practical resources. It's a great reminder that reducing stigma starts with everyday conversations.
🤝 Free Peer-to-Peer Education
NAMI Boulder County continues offering its Peer-to-Peer education program for adults living with mental health conditions. Led by trained peers with lived experience, the program focuses on recovery, self-advocacy, wellness, and connection.
🌄 Save the Date
Registration is now open for the 2026 Colorado Rural Peer Conference (July 29-31 in Glenwood Springs). If you're looking to recharge, network, and learn alongside peer professionals from across Colorado, this is one event you won't want to miss.
🎤 Exciting News!
I'm incredibly honored to have been selected as a keynote speaker for the Colorado Rural Peer Conference 2026 this year. My keynote, Fall Down Seven, Stand Up Eight: Unapologetic Tenacity, is a reflection of the lessons our peer workforce teaches every day: resilience isn't about never falling. It's about choosing to rise, again and again, and helping others do the same.
If you're attending the conference, please come say hello. I'd love to meet fellow Peer Professionals from across Colorado.
Dë Waldron, CPFS
📣 Peer Shout-Out of the Month
A single photo and 100-word spotlight.
This month's Peer Spotlight:
Know someone who quietly goes above and beyond? Nominate them. We want to celebrate the Peer Support Professionals making a difference across Boulder County and beyond, whether they're leading groups, advocating for others, mentoring new peers, or simply showing up day after day.
Dë Waldron, CPFS
In Boulder County?
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