BOSTON, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Sunday, October 14, and
for the sixth year in a row since her untimely death, hundreds will
run/walk to remember and symbolically "finish the race" for Dr. Cynthia
Lucero, the talented young psychologist who died during the 2002 Boston
marathon, and to raise funds for her legacy. That legacy is training --
through language and cultural immersion to create culturally sensitive and
linguistically competent psychologists to care for the fastest growing
population in the US.
Preceding this year's race, MSPP will also hold a breakfast for
educational, political and Latino leaders to discuss making mental health
services truly accessible for Latinos and what MSPP is doing to facilitate
that access. Attending will be Representative Jamie Eldridge of Acton;
Representative Elizabeth Malia of Jamaica Plain; Senator Marian Walsh of
West Roxbury; Former Senator Jarret Barrios, now President of Blue
Cross/Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts; and Ali Noorani, Executive
Director of MIRA.
WHAT: Sunday, October 14, 2007
8:30 AM --Latino Leadership Breakfast
10:30 AM--Dr. Cynthia Lucero Memorial Run and Walk
WHERE: MSPP 221 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, MA
By 2050, experts estimate that one-quarter of the country's population
will be Latino, yet only two percent of psychologists are really equipped
to treat them. The MSPP Lucero Latino Mental Health Training Program seeks
to fill this urgent need for Spanish-speaking psychologists, who understand
the complex mental health needs of Latinos and the barriers to access.
"Even among Latinos who access mental health services, 50 percent never
return after their first visit, most likely due to a lack of 'cultural
fit,'" says Dr. Nicholas Covino, MSPP president.
MSPP's program is the first of its kind to require Spanish fluency,
requiring students to undergo two summers of intensive language study in
Latin America, in addition to language support during the academic years
and at US clinical sites serving Latinos. Recently returned from Costa
Rica, the first immersion class will be available on Sunday.
Dr. Cynthia Lucero collapsed from hyponatremia while running the 2002
Boston Marathon. Shortly after her death, MSPP and Dr. Lucero's family and
friends founded the Dr. Cynthia Lucero Center, which eventually created the
Latino Mental Health Training Program as one of its major projects.
