Napa Valley Vintners puts $1.8 million behind campus wellness centers
Five nonprofits will share the grants, which back counseling, peer support and quiet space at schools across the county.
ST. HELENA: Napa Valley Vintners has announced $1.8 million in grants to five local nonprofits that provide wellness services on school campuses across Napa County, an investment aimed at meeting students where they spend most of their day.
The Sept. 1 announcement directs $400,000 each to Mentis, the Napa Valley Education Foundation, Aldea and On The Move, plus $200,000 to UpValley Family Centers. Together the organizations run a coordinated network of on-campus wellness centers offering counseling, peer support, a quiet place to reset during the school day and connections to further resources.
The need is visible in the numbers. Today 55 percent of Napa County public high school students use an on-campus wellness center, according to the vintners' announcement.
De Leon's team is one part of a web of long-running partnerships. Mentis, which focuses on mental health, provides group discussions, coping tools and therapy for 2,000 middle and high school students each year, and has received $7.6 million in lifetime funding from the vintners since 1998.
The Napa Valley Education Foundation supports seven campus wellness centers that see 250 students daily, provides mental health screenings for 16,000 students annually and trains 350 school staff, with $6.2 million in lifetime vintner funding since 2019.
The impact shows up in individual stories. One student, Vanessa, arrived at Napa Valley Unified as a freshman struggling academically, feeling isolated and losing her sense of belonging. Regular check-ins with a youth outreach coordinator helped her build friendships, attend class and eventually seek therapy. By her senior year, she was bringing younger students into the center herself. She told them, in the program's account, that the center had saved her when she was exactly where they are.
Aldea, which provides behavioral health services including substance-use programs and support for foster youth, has received $11 million since 1996. On The Move has received $7.2 million since 2004, and UpValley Family Centers, which coordinates wellness programs at northern valley campuses, has received $5.9 million since 2004.
The grants continue a tradition that dates to 1981, when funds raised through Auction Napa Valley began flowing to local children and families. To date the vintners' nearly 530 member wineries have given $245 million back to the Napa Valley community, according to the trade association founded in 1944.
The vintners say more announcements are coming in the weeks ahead, with additional grants aimed at supporting young people after school, at home and throughout the community.
None to date. The Tribune corrects errors promptly and transparently. Read our corrections policy.