CLEVELAND — One Cleveland church is engaging youth in a program this month, not just about Black history but how it ties into mental health and the importance of talking about it all. 

What You Need To Know

  • For Black History Month, the Prodigal Son Father's House hosted an event called "I am Black History" to empower youth

  • The event featured presentations from kids about Black historical figures and events.

  • Shanice Lockhart, a member of the church, is also a therapist and led a panel discussion to answer kids' questions about mental health and history

Shanice Lockhart, a therapist at the Black Mental Health Corporation in Cleveland, is also a member of the Prodigal Son Father’s House church, where her dad is the pastor. 

At her job, she works with mostly Black clients to address mental health challenges. 

The organization’s goal is to cater their services to the unique challenges the Black community faces. 

“Every counselor, every case manager, everybody who is involved in the agency is from the Black, African American community,” Lockhart said. “So they’re able to connect with people from that same community and understanding the cultural norms, and able to counsel people from what we know is a norm for our culture.”

When she’s not working as a counselor, Lockhart can be found leading youth programming at the Prodigal Son Father’s House.

“We have programs in place so that we can be able to really help them know who they are, know about their faith in Christ, know about where they’re headed in life and just have hope,” she said. 

One of those programs was the church’s “I am Black History” event. 

Youth were invited to present on Black historical events and figures and ask anonymous questions to a panel of adults to help them navigate past and current struggles in their lives. 

For Lockhart, it’s about more than just teaching the youth about Black history. 

She said there’s a tie between her community’s history and their mental health.

Her goal is to empower the young people in her church to feel comfortable talking about it all. 

“They have that wondering and that curiosity about them, so having a panel just really helped them to see adults that care but also to hear their voices,” she said. “I think their voices are just as important as our voices.”

And hopefully, Lockhart said, these kids will be the next generation of leaders making more Black history.

The Prodigal Son Father’s House has programming for youth once a month.