10/10/2026
At Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Philippines, we believe no one should face challenges alone.
This World Mental Health Day, we are putting the spotlight on our partners who pave the path for their community’s healing and holistic well-being, especially at times of crises.
Today, we celebrate one of our local champions in the Strengthening Communities' Preparedness to Mitigate Health Risks during Emergencies (PRIME) project, where we help make mental well-being an equal and rightful priority during emergencies.
Kim Berlee Mora is a Community Health Nurse at the San Joaquin Super Health Center in Pasig City. Aside from supporting the Center’s day-to-day medical activities, she also makes sure that her community receives timely and relevant mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) by helping them “…𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥.”
Through PRIME, she received specialized MHPSS training that allowed her to promote individual emotional well-being and strengthen community relationships for a holistic approach to disaster-responsive care.
Nurse Kim plays an important role in how life-saving information is cascaded from specialists to patient.
This aspect of her work evolves into a critical health service during times of disasters, where stress and trauma can further endanger vulnerable populations. Some of her key activities include “…𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘴,”
But attention to mental health concerns should always be a given. For Nurse Kim, the best time to provide care is now. “𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 “𝘒𝘶𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢 𝘬𝘢?”, 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦.”
She also shares how PRIME, which is funded by the TaiwanICDF財團法人國際合作發展基金會, has been instrumental in readying the San Joaquin Health Center for a comprehensive health response during emergencies.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘙𝘐𝘔𝘌 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴… [𝘗𝘙𝘐𝘔𝘌] 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.”
This , we recognize local champions, like Nurse Kim, who help strengthen her community’s mental well-being through compassion, action, and meaningful partnership.
Together, we cultivate safer, healthier, and disaster-resilient communities.
