Mental Health Through Community Engagement and Action

Join us for an inspirational evening including a viewing of the documentary "Takeover", a discussion on Mental Health through community engagement and action led by Melanie Domenech, and live bomba music and dance in which all are invited to participate.No registration is needed. All of the events are entirely free thanks to the financial support from the Sorenson Unity Center, Salt Lake County Zoo Arts and Parks, Utah Division of Arts and Museums, National Endowment for the Arts, Salt Lake City Arts Council, and Creative West.Saturday Nov 7, 2026
3-4pm Documentary "Takeover"
4-5pm Discussion on Mental Health through Community Engagement and Action by Melanie Domenech
5-6:30pm Live Bomba music and dance in Communitylocation:
Sorenson Unity Center
1383 S 900 W SLCMelanie Domenech is a professor at Utah State University who has spent nearly 25 years working to make mental health care more accessible and effective for underserved communities. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she's fluent in both English and Spanish and often moves between the two.Her research focuses on helping families thrive, especially families who don't always get the support they need from the systems around them. She is the Executive Director of Implementation Sciences International, a nonprofit that helps bring proven parenting and family programs into real-world communities. She's also the editor of a national academic journal on family therapy, where she works with researchers and clinicians from around the world.Alongside her career, Melanie has mentored dozens of doctoral students and taken on leadership roles in professional organizations dedicated to ethical, culturally responsive care. She lives in Utah, is married, and maintains a personal spiritual practice that shapes how she approaches both her work and her life."Takeover" , the documentary, explores the twelve historic hours on July 14, 1970, in which fifty members of the Young Lords Party stormed the dilapidated Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx, drove out their administrative staff, barricaded entrances and windows, and made their cries for decent healthcare known to the world. They raised the Puerto Rican flag atop the building, as well as a banner reading “The People’s Hospital” - a nom de guerre still used today. Through archival footage, seamless reenactments, and modern-day interviews, the film follows the Young Lords’ resistance against institutions curated by wealth and white supremacy, and their fight for the most basic of human rights: the right to accessible, quality healthcare.