If you had to name your medicine, what would it be?

When we talk about mental health, we often look towards clinics and prescriptions. But here at Instituto Familiar de la Raza, we’ve known for 48 years that real healing has many faces and that for the Chicano/Latino/Indígena community, our true medicine has always lived in our roots.

For us at IFR, it lives in the rhythm of a drum, the cleansing scent of burning copal, in the power of our shared story. It lives in the ceremony that honors our ancestors. It lives in the belief that La Cultura Cura.

This May, we are not just raising “awareness.” We are celebrating The Many Medicines of our people. We believe that wellness is not an individual pursuit, but a collective reclaiming of our spirit. When we embrace Tú Eres Mi Otro Yo (You are my other self), we recognize that your healing is inextricably tied to my own.

How We Practice Our Many Medicines

Healing isn't something we find in a clinical manual; it's something we share and feel every single day. Here is how we nurture our spirits, right here in the community:

Through connection: Taking the time to check in on a neighbor, sharing a plática over coffee, and breaking the quiet isolation that weighs on so many of us.

Through our traditions: Grounding ourselves in the comfort of traditional herbs, gentle remedios, and the time-tested wisdom passed down by those who came before us.

Through expression: Making sure our individuals and families always have a safe, vibrant space to create, connect, and be exactly who they are.

Through our stories: Listening to the cuentos of our elders, so we never forget who we are, where we came from, and all that we have survived.

For many of our communities, healing has never been separate from culture. It has always lived in relationship, in how we gather, how we care for one another, and how we honor the wisdom of those who came before us.

At IFR, this understanding continues to guide our work every day. We know that wellness is not only about treatment. It is about belonging. It is about creating spaces where people feel seen, supported, and connected to their identity, their family, and their community.

This month, we honor the medicines that continue to carry us forward. Not as something lost to the past, but as living practices that still sustain us today.

Our culture is our strength. Our community is our medicine.