PEERS Staff

Empowerment Coordinator Yaffa Alter is passionate about supporting and advocating for the overall health and wellbeing for people from all backgrounds. In her role, Yaffa helps mental health consumers thrive by providing them with choices and tools to become empowered and self-determined. Possessing extensive personal and professional experiences with mental health issues, Yaffa has experienced trauma, battled with extreme highs and painful lows, experienced hospitalization, and was diagnosed with major depression, bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder.

Prior to accepting the role of Empowerment Coordinator, Yaffa served as the John George Mentor Program Coordinator and supported individuals who were in transition at the hospital to connect with a mentor who had similar lived experience. She also held the role of Program Coordinator for the Tobacco Harm Reduction Program, which informed consumers about the risks associated with smoking tobacco. Prior to her involvement with PEERS, she served as Community Health Worker at Berkeley Mental Health, a member of the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Comprehensive Child Crisis Team, and as Support Counselor for West Coast Children's Clinic.

Originally from Trinidad, West Indies, Yaffa takes pride in her deep-rooted culture, appreciates nature, collects butterfly and elephant figurines, loves to dance and watch sports, and embraces the beats and rhythms of music. A breast cancer survivor, she is also the proud mother of a young girl named Ameerah Imani, "Princess of Faith."

Passionate about using poetry as a tool for consumers to share their stories, Yaffa recently authored a book of poems entitled Uncover, Discover, and Recover Victoriously, which depicts her journey of wellness and recovery. She holds a Bachelors of Science from San Francisco State University in Health Education with a double minor in Holistic Health & Psychology, and is a certified WRAP Facilitator, Mental Health First Aid Instructor, Facilitator of Self-Determination, eCPR Certification Trainer, Domestic Violence Counselor and Sexual Assault/Rape Counselor.
 

Media and Marketing Coordinator Jeneé Darden received a journal at age 7 and hasn’t stopped writing since. An Oakland native, Jeneé learned about PEERS during a Social Inclusion Campaign event addressing the stigma of mental health in the African American community. Now as a staff member, she works on all things relating to PEERS media, including blogging, podcasting, and management of the media watch volunteer program.

In college, Jeneé worked as a peer counselor for first-year students of color, which involved training with psychologists and professional counselors.  She is excited to blend her love of media with her passion for helping others, and is proud to be a part of the fight to end stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health.

Previously serving as a reporter and NPR news producer in Los Angeles, Jeneé has also reported for the "Marketplace Money" radio show, Teaching Tolerance magazine, TheRoot.com, and Huffington Post. In 2005, she covered the London transit bombings for Time magazine. Jeneé holds a bachelor's degree in ethnic studies from UC San Diego and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California.

When she's not reporting, blogging, or producing original podcasts, Jeneé enjoys reading, dancing, and exploring the outdoors. She is also a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. and the National Association of Black Journalists.
 

Letty Elenes, WRAP lead, has been with PEERS since July 2009. Previously the PEERS Event Coordinator, Letty is responsible for leading WRAP Overviews, 3-day presentations, outreach, ongoing WRAP groups, and the new TAY Initiative projects. After learning about PEERS from her own WRAP overview in 2007, Letty went on to receive her WRAP certification and facilitate her own workshops in 2009.

A full-time student at California State University, East Bay double-majoring in Psychology and Biology, Letty is a founding member of the Pool Of Consumer Champions Transition Age Youth (POCCTAY), member of TAY Advisory Board, and an active TAY leader within the Alameda County consumer movement. She has also presented at the Youth in Mind Annual Conference, Northern California Mental Health & Spirituality Conference, Alternatives Conference, and Alameda County Transition Age Youth Advisory Board. A graduate of the California Culinary Academy and the proud mother of two lovely pits, Letty is passionate about the community and has been involved with efforts for social change since she was 14, volunteering with N.E.L. Centro De Juventud, the Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation, and POCC. Letty was awarded The Alameda County Mental Health Board’s (MHB) Consumer Community Service Award for 2010. In her spare time, she is a devoted sister of Theta Lambda Psi, Latina Sorority giving back to the community by raising awareness of wellness, breast cancer, and cervical cancer. She also enjoys intense Nerf war battles, forming ice sculptures, and skydiving from 18,000 feet.

Program Manager Sharon Kuehn works with Social Inclusion Campaign staff and community allies to provide excellent outreach, spirituality, and empowerment activities to change hearts and minds around mental health. In guiding the Social Inclusion team in its endeavors, she plans projects, timelines, and agendas, facilitates meetings, writes proposal and outreach materials, and executes out a variety of organizational and administrative duties.

Before coming to PEERS, Sharon served as a member of the Alameda County BHCS Consumer Relations Team and as the Executive Director of the California Network of Mental Health Clients. She has worked with WRAP since 1999, and has "followed PEERS' impressive growth over the years and is honored now to be a member of an innovative, multi-cultural team."

Mental health issues have challenged and gifted Sharon since her teen years when she was attending Stanford University. She says her worldview expanded when she "stepped out of school, hitchhiked around the US, and lived in Hippie Communes in upstate New York." In the process, she learned about business by managing a gourmet vegetarian restaurant in New York and about the mental health system through forced treatment at the state psychiatric hospital at Willard.

Sharon's leadership in the California and national consumer movement has included developing the first consumer-run training contract through the statewide Mental Health Co-Op, leading the Mental Health Managers in Recovery, serving as a lead consultant in the development of Recovery Training content for the California Institute for Mental Health, and representing the statewide client voice as the Executive Director of the California Network of Mental Health Clients. She was recipient of the statewide Howie the Harp Award for consumer advocacy leadership in 2006 and awarded the willing to "Move Mountains" Award by ILC of Santa Barbara County in 2007.

Sharon loves the ocean, swimming, snorkeling, body surfing, and all things that involve water and sun. She makes her home in Santa Cruz, where she can hear the sound of the surf from her bedroom window.
 

In his role as Spanish WRAP Lead, Enrique Lopez facilitates Spanish WRAP groups and engages in outreach to the Latino community regarding wellness and recovery. After completing the Alameda Network of Mental Health Clients’ Best Now program in 2007, Enrique became a certified peer counselor and gained an interest in WRAP facilitation through PEERS. In 2008, Enrique earned his WRAP facilitator certification and has been moderating groups ever since.

Also active in volunteering with other nonprofits, Enrique has also worked for Community Behavioral Health Services in San Francisco. In addition, he has presented at the Cultural Competence and Mental Health Summit. Before joining the nonprofit and peer advocacy world, Enrique worked as an administrator and interpreter with immigration courts, superior courts, and for various conferences.

Enrique enjoys working for PEERS because he feels he can relate to the consumer-run organization, and can put his practice and expertise as a counselor and WRAP facilitator to good use. When he’s not facilitating, Enrique enjoys exercising and coaching his daughter’s soccer team. You might even see him playing in the occasional pick-up game himself.

Media Specialist Sherman Park brings his knowledge and experience of video production, post-production, and audio to the PEERS Media and Marketing Team. Prior to coming to PEERS, Sherman volunteered for three years in Italy, where he had the opportunity to work with people experiencing mental health issues. From disenfranchised groups to young adults with substance abuse problems, Sherman helped teach, mentor, and empower these individuals through various outreach programs.

Sherman is excited to work with PEERS as its mission of recovery and wellness has brought to light experiences of alienation and identity he had growing up as a second generation Korean American. He is encouraged by the passion and dedication shown by the PEERS team to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health.

Sherman studied Communication Design at California State University Chico. He has worked in the video production industry around the San Francisco Bay Area as a videographer, video editor, and an ad copywriter.   

Monique Tarver is the Spirituality Liaison for the Social Inclusion Campaign for PEERS and has been instrumental in leading the efforts to recognize spirituality as a resource and tool in wellness and recovery by coordinating spirituality projects, events, and activities in Alameda County for the past 3 ½ years. She is excited to bring her passion to a unique position that offers consumers and family members the comfort of bringing together all the important aspects of their being to enhance wellness and recovery.

As a survivor of mental health distress and family member, Monique uses her experiences both in the mental health system and faith/spiritual community to advocate for the collaboration of these communities to allow for a holistic approach to wellness and recovery. She was instrumental in planning and organizing Northern California’s first Mental Health and Spirituality Conference in 2009, which brought together more than 600 consumers, family members, spiritual community leaders, and mental health providers in unity to explore the benefits of the inclusion of spirituality in wellness and recovery.

As part of her commitment to on-going mutual learning for the spiritual and mental health communities, Monique facilitates open community dialogues to foster relationships that will increase efficacy in treatment and support for wellness. She is passionate about replacing misinformation not only about mental health distress, but also the individuals and families who deal with mental health issues. She addresses this in a training curriculum she has developed to help inspire communities of faith to become welcoming communities for mental health consumers and family members.

Monique is a member of the Statewide Mental Health and Spirituality Initiative's Steering Committee and is a licensed minister who demonstrates respect for all faith/spiritual paths. When she is not working Monique enjoys spending time with the love of her life Troy, her husband of the last 14 years and their three children; Elijah, Joshua, and Imani.