Michelle Sanchez (Otomi-Chichimeca)

Medication Assistance Treatment (MAT) Project Manager

Michelle Sanchez has her Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology from UC Santa Barbara and her Master’s of Science in Clinical Psychology from Notre Dame de Namur University, specializing in conducting therapy and assessments with a variety of ages and settings for learning disabilities, trauma, behavioral issues, mental health disorders and addiction.  She has over 10+ years of clinical and administrative experience, dedicating her work to Bay Area local nonprofits that cater to low income and homeless children and adults.  She has conducted research and outreach in the community, while managing and developing mental health, substance abuse, and behavioral health programs.  She has worked in a variety of settings including schools, jails, prisons, psychiatric emergency hospitals, medical detoxes, dual diagnosis residential programs, and senior homes for mental health and dementia diagnoses. At Positive Resource Center, she was the Director of Intake and Placement Services, where she assessed and housed many of the chronically incarcerated, addicted, and mentally ill homeless throughout the Bay Area and placed them in programs for mental health, substance abuse, and HIV, in the city of San Francisco.  During the Covid Pandemic, she successfully led the Joe Healy Medical Detox, as Project Director, treating alcohol, opioids, and benzodiazepine withdrawal for low income and homeless adults. She helped develop and implement a new Level of Care for our homeless in California, now known as “Behavioral Health Respites”, similar to a low threshold navigation center and meant to lessen the barriers for the homeless who are trying to access medical, mental/substance abuse treatment, employment, and housing. She did so by opening, developing, and managing the new Hummingbird Valencia Psychiatric Behavioral Health Respite in the city of San Francisco, as Project Director. This respite site also incorporated Covid and HIV testing made publicly to all homeless residents and non-residents within the community. Michelle Sanchez will now fulfill her new role as the Medication Assistance Treatment (MAT) Project Manager for Friendship House Association of American Indians, as she helps aid solutions to address the current Opioid crisis amongst American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AI/ANs). She will be overseeing the essential aspects of the new Friendship House MAT grants awarded to Friendship House Association of American Indians, including the Northern California Tribal MAT Consortium Grant. She will help develop, implement, and lead this project that will be providing more accessibility to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) services for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) with Opioid Use Disorder, and will be establishing and coordinating ongoing recovery support services for AI/ANs when they return to their urban, rural, and tribal communities throughout Northern California and other areas.