July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. It was designated as such by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008, with the goal of improving access to mental health treatment and services through increased public awareness. The Steve Fund is the nation’s only organization focused on the mental health and emotional well-being of students of color. Right at this moment, there are students of color who are failing academically, suffering emotionally and/OR in some cases are facing serious risk, because population-specific factors influencing mental health are too poorly understood and not acted upon.
But we are taking action. The Steve Fund recently has:
- Launched the first of its kind online Knowledge Center with expert information on the mental health and emotional well-being of students of color
- Partnered with Crisis Text Line so youth can text the keyword “Steve” to 741741 to get connected with a trained crisis counselor.
- Teamed up with the NAACP to present new mental and emotional health programs for NAACP youth and their families.
- Formed the Steve Fund Youth Advisory Board to inform the Steve Fund work on all fronts.
To keep up to date and/or learn more about the Steve Fund’s activities, please sign up for our email updates here.