The goal is to provide tools and skills to identify and talk about mental health issues in a safe environment that encourages people to seek help they may need.
It was this culture change that co-owners Patrick and Bobbin introduced at Mulvaney’s B&L in Sacramento, CA with the help of the Innovation Learning Network. Together they inspired a new system where employees drop a card into an anonymous box when they clock in for a shift. This gives employees a safe place to express their state of mind and the floor manager a new method for knowing how the crew is doing and feeling. Taking a temperature of the crew this way alerts the manager to red flags they might not otherwise have known and it presents the chance to check-in and offer support.
Pilot program participating restaurants: Binchoyaki, Scott’s Seafood, Selland’s East Sac, Selland’s Broadway, Selland’s El Dorado, Ella Dining Room and Bar, OBO’ Italian Table & Bar, The Kitchen, Randy Peters Catering, Waterboy, Rio City Café, Hook & Ladder, Mulvaney’s B&L
Recognizing immense impact potential, Sacramento’s four major health care systems, along with the region’s NBA team – Dignity Health, Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, UC Davis Medical Center, and the Sacramento Kings – have come together to provide both mental health resources and project funding. Other partners include Innovation Learning Network, WellSpace Health, The Steinberg Institute and the James Beard Foundation.
I Got Your Back teaches employees to look for warning signs, creates acceptance and a safe environment to talk about personal crisis and provides access to resources for those struggling.
At least one restaurant employee trained in peer counseling is available to listen to co-workers’ mental health and addiction troubles. There’s also universal acceptance that this team member has a green light to seek out co-workers who they believe may be battling a private crisis. The employee wears a purple hand marker so everyone on the crew knows who’s got their back.
Scaling IGYB training, wellness culture and mood checks to kitchens across Sacramento’s food service industry by creating a “Recipe Book” that lays out the road map for others to install their own program.
It’s a promise to work together to support our peers and reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health and related issues. Grief inspired the IGYB program after a sudden rash of suicides and overdoses in the restaurant industry hit Sacramento hard in late 2018 and early 2019. IGYB is converting grief and sadness into courage and optimism and we hope to see it spread from restaurant to restaurant, city to city and industry to industry.
The hospitality industry is a close-knit family. We are trained to take care of others. We welcome guests, make customers feel comfortable, and see to their every need. Our job is to put smiles on people’s faces.
Then why is it that we don’t take care for ourselves the same way? Physically demanding work, odd hours and prevalence of substance abuse threaten mental well-being across the food and service industry.
I Got Your Back is a statement that says it’s not okay to shrug off the warning signs.
Nearly 17 percent of full-time food service and hospitality employees suffer from substance abuse disorders, more than any other employment sector, according to a 2015 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration study.
The food and hospitality industry has the highest rate of employees with substance use disorder of any industry. (1)
The greater Sacramento region employs 100,000+ people in leisure & hospitality and added thousands of jobs to this sector in the last year. (3)
A 2016 survey of more than 2,000 restaurant workers from a national nonprofit called Chefs with Issues found that 73 percent reported suffering from multiple mental health conditions.
Food and beverage service is considered the unhealthiest industry for employees. (2)
A 2015 study from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported that food service employees had the highest rates of illicit drug use compared to 18 other occupations.
Sacramento County’s suicide rate is significantly higher compared to the rate statewide. (4)
Mental and behavioral health is a pressing need in Sacramento communities, so much so that it was the top priority identified in both Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health Community Needs Assessments conducted in 2016. (5)
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