Envision Wellness staff members will be at Discover Kenmore on July 24, 2024, from 10 AM until 2 PM to meet with the community and share about the many services we provide! We’ll have prizes and giveaways, so be sure to stop by! We’ll be on Delaware Avenue between Wardman Road and Knowlton Avenue.
July is Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
In 2008, inspired by Bebe Moore Campbell’s charge to end stigma and provide mental health support for minoritized communities, July was designated as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month by the U.S. House of Representatives. There have been recent attempts to change the month’s name, but National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) continues to recognize the importance of honoring and continuing Bebe Moore Campbell’s incredible legacy and groundbreaking work in helping to shift the mental health culture in underserved communities. Envision Wellness joins in the advocacy this month.
Mental health affects us all, and everyone deserves the inherent right to have access to mental health support, resources, and care. Still, not everyone has equal and equitable access to these crucial services because of stigma, shame, or fear of judgment. These factors create significant barriers that prevent individuals from seeking mental health care.
“Once my loved ones accepted the diagnosis, healing began for the entire family, but it took too long. It took years. Can’t we, as a nation, begin to speed up that process? We need a national campaign to destigmatize mental illness, especially one targeted toward African Americans…It’s not shameful to have a mental illness. Get treatment. Recovery is possible.”
– Bebe Moore Campbell, 2005
Bebe Moore Campbell was a literary trailblazer, who used her words in books including, “The 72-Hour Hold” and “Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry,” to address the profound impact of racism, mental health and the enduring strength of culture, community and connections. However, her impact extended beyond her literary works.
She co-founded NAMI Urban Los Angeles and became a national change agent whose groundbreaking work revolutionized the way we approach mental health in underserved communities. She recognized and understood the detrimental consequences of silence rooted in stigma — one of the reasons for the lack of mental health care and treatment within communities of color.
Campbell fearlessly challenged the status quo, shedding light on the unique struggles faced by people of color and advocating for their voices to be heard. Her firsthand experience underscored the need for safe spaces for people in communities of color to share their stories and experiences without shame or judgement. She advocated for spaces of hope and healing where the unheard and untreated could find inclusive and equitable resources for support and mental health care.
NAMI Community Conversations
Join the advocacy and awareness efforts by using your voice and sharing your story as we fearlessly reshape and shift the mental health culture through conversations. Help us amplify our Community Conversation Initiatives: a three-part community conversation series designed by and created for racially and ethnically diverse communities to have open and honest discussions on mental health and wellness by sharing first-hand experiences, identifying the signs and symptoms of mental health challenges, and sharing tools and resources for support.
- NAMI Sharing Hope: Designed by and created for people of Black/African Ancestry communities
- NAMI Compartiendo Esperanza: Created by and for Hispanic/Latin American communities
- NAMI Chai & Chat: For, by, and about South Asian communities
- NAMI Maniwala: Created to empower Filipino/Filipinx/Philippine communities