Youth Mental Health in the Eastern Sierra
A Community Assessment of Needs, Challenges & Opportunities
August 2026
Dear MMCF Family,
Every day, your generosity puts Eastern Sierra kids on the mountain, in the classroom, and on the field. We have always believed that these experiences do more than build skills — they build confidence, belonging, and resilience. This year, we set out to prove it, and to ask a bigger question: how can MMCF be a force for good in the mental well-being of our young people?
Thanks to a transformational gift from one of our founders, Rusty Gregory, we were able to commission a comprehensive Youth Mental Health Needs Assessment for Mono County, conducted by Agnew::Beck Consulting. This was not a report written from the outside. It was community-centered and data-informed, drawing on the California Healthy Kids Survey, county and hospital health assessments, U.S. Census data, 11 interviews with local leaders, and 15 conversations with mental health providers. An interdisciplinary team spanning our schools, Mammoth Hospital, county behavioral and public health, parks and recreation, and law enforcement guided the work at every step.
What we learned
The findings are sobering. Mono County residents experience higher rates of frequent mental distress and death by suicide than California as a whole — suicide was the sixth leading cause of death in our county during the most recent reporting period. Our young people are carrying a heavy load: more than half of local 9th graders reported chronic sadness or hopelessness in the past year, and one in four reported seriously considering suicide. At the same time, care is hard to reach. Mono County has fewer than 40 mental health providers — a ratio of roughly 410 residents to every provider, nearly double the statewide rate — which means long wait times and, too often, no local option at all. About a third of adults report feeling socially isolated, and families in our North County communities like Coleville and Walker face the steepest barriers of all.
The connection to everything we already do
Here is what moved us most. When the assessment asked what actually protects young people, the answer was strikingly familiar: connection and belonging, consistent and reliable programs, and joyful time spent outdoors. The report singled out programs like Ski PE as powerful drivers of youth well-being. This mirrors a deep body of research linking physical activity, time in nature, and a strong sense of belonging to lower rates of depression and anxiety and to greater resilience.
In other words, the things MMCF has championed for years are not separate from mental health — they are mental health. A day on the mountain, a season on a team, a mentor after school, a scholarship that keeps a student on track: each of these is a form of prevention. That understanding is now at the heart of our mission — empowering our youth to thrive by supporting academics, athletics, outdoor experiences, and mental wellness throughout the Eastern Sierra.
What MMCF will do next
The assessment gives us a clear, evidence-based roadmap. It recommends that we invest across the full continuum of promotion, prevention, and intervention — strengthening well-being, reducing risk, and providing timely support. It also identifies a fund-ready framework outlining high-impact investments, including school-based mental health staffing and wellness coaches, after-school mentoring and connection, equitable access to outdoor and enrichment programs, bilingual outreach that reduces stigma, and flexible response funds for families in crisis. We are prioritizing multi-year commitments and building equity and geographic reach into how we give.
We are also strengthening ourselves as an organization: adding mental health expertise to our board, convening our funded partners so they can coordinate rather than compete, and staying closely aligned with the county and Mammoth Hospital so our dollars fill real gaps rather than duplicate effort.
This work is only possible because of donors like you who believe our kids deserve every chance to thrive. We invite you to read the full assessment and see the data and recommendations for yourself: [link to full assessment on mammothfoundation.org].
With deep gratitude for your partnership,
Tom Bissell
Executive Director
Mammoth Mountain Community Foundation
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