In honor of Disability Pride Month – I’m going to do something a little vulnerable. I want to talk about unseen disability. For a brief moment a couple of years back, I served as an Interim Director for the Pacific ADA Center at Public Health Institute. Their Director had transitioned from the role and I stepped in until their new Director was found (her name is Jerri Davison and she’s amazing BTW). I learned more from that team than I can take space here to write about – about the ADA and so...

I am not exactly sure where it came from, but somewhere along the way I learned it’s rude to brag. I learned you should deflect a compliment or make an accomplishment smaller to help others feel comfortable with the success. It was such a contradiction because the expectation was always high performance – but without owning that performance. I’m not proud to say that I have been told more than once and by more than one person that I should pause and celebrate more. It’s embarrassing to admit...

As many of you know, May is Mental Health Awareness month. In May, Cypress will post on our social media accounts to get folks talking about mental health, and how we work to prepare folks with the skills they need to support someone facing a mental health challenge. You know how we feel about being prepared to help someone else! But this year, we aren’t waiting until May. Cypress is feeling a deep sense of urgency for the conversation now . And it’s because we aren’t okay. During our...