LEXINGTON, Ky. — Over the last three years, a Lexington organization has grown its platform to bring awareness to mental health issues in the Black community.
The Neighborhood Healers Project is on a mission to lessen mental health disparities within the Black community.
Candace Hargons is one of the group’s creators, who started it after discovering a small percentage of African Americans in the region seek mental health resources.
“Only 7% of the people who were seeking mental health services in this Bluegrass region were Black people, but they are 14.6% of the population here,” Hargons said.
Hargons says misconceptions, generational values and lack of access all prevent Black people from professional treatment. That’s why they encourage familiar language, connections and relationships to introduce people to professional options.
“A lot of the stigma around what it means to have a mental health concern prevents people from seeking help. Hargons said. “And so we know in past generations people would say, you know, this person’s having a nervous breakdown or they’re crazy, but they wouldn’t give the appropriate attention to the mental health symptoms.”
The Neighborhood Healers Project also trains people monthly to provide outreach. Among 60 neighborhood fellows is Carnegie Center’s Claudia Love Meir. She is the coordinator of the Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative, a professional writer and advocate for African Americans, literacy, and more.
Meir says she has helped her loved ones and others work through serious health and mental health challenges at the center.
“Creatives of all types often suffer from anxiety and depression, and out of all creatives, writers have the highest rate of suicide,” she explained. “So I thought that working through the Carnegie Center since I’m already doing work centered on the Black community, I thought it was a perfect blend.”
She is now extending a critical service whenever needed.
“And to that end, at all of the KBWC events, I have Neighborhood Healer resources. I pass them out, I tell them what we’re doing together,” Meir said. “Mental health and mental illness is something that we all should be concerned about.”