DEMYSTIFYING IN SOLIDARITY MENTAL HEALTH DISPARITIES
Healing Open Wounds Foundation is committed to providing quality services and solutions to the mentally challenged in underserved communities.
About
Our Vision
Healing Open Wounds Foundation’s vision is to demystify in solidarity the mental health disparities in underserved communities. Healing Open Wounds Foundation has partnered with well-rounded, clinically exceptional psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals to realize this vision. Together we will offer unwavering clinical services to a wounded community. Healing Open Wounds is dedicated to enacting a positive change in minority mental health, offering a viable alternative and cultivating an environment of healing from the inside out.
Our Mission
Healing Open Wounds Foundation’s operates in the context of a solution to an ongoing, ever increasing unresolved disparity in quality mental health treatment in minority disadvantaged communities.
The uninsured rate in Georgia is the third highest in the nation, with 13.4% of adult residents lacking health insurance. In addition, Georgia ranks among the states with the fewest number of health professionals per capita at 145 mental health providers per 100,000 residents (fifth lowest), and 66 primary care doctors per 100,000 residents (10th lowest).
Post COVID-19 pandemic, Burnout and depression are well-known risks, yet funding for Georgia mental health services is facing dramatic cuts in the 2023 state budget. Current levels are unacceptably low, and further reduction will mean hardship for thousands of Georgians affected by mental illness and their families. Our service can make a difference in helping the mentally challenged in our community. We hope to accomplish this through providing mental health treatment, mentoring, educational opportunities both within and outside our institution, and in an environment that promotes inclusivity and personal well-being.
H.O.W. Inspiration
Healing Open Wounds is inspired by:H.Con.Res.134 which Expressed to Congress that there should be established a Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month to enhance public awareness of mental illness, especially within minority communities. Whereas mental illness is one of the leading causes of disabilities in the United States, affecting one out of every four families in America and victimizing both those with the illness and those who care for and love those afflicted; Whereas according to the National Alliance for Mentally Ill (NAMI), the direct and indirect costs to the workplace resulting from mental illness total over $34,000,000 annually;
“Stigma is one of the main reasons why people with mental health problems don’t seek treatment or take their medication,” Campbell said. “People of color, particularly African Americans, feel the stigma more keenly. In a race-conscious society, some don’t want to be perceived as having yet another deficit.”(Bebe Moore Campbell)
Services
Acquiring the services you need may not be a easy task when your combating a mental health disorder. Healing Open Wounds Foundation has compiled a list of services to assist in you getting closer to a balanced mental health status.
Find Help
If you find it difficult maintaining your mental health, you may need to get help to make it better. There are a wide range of treatments and support available. However, the reality is they can sometimes be hard to find or pay for. Healing Open Wounds Foundation is here to help.
Professional Support
Getting the professional support to assess and diagnosis your needs in a time of crisis or discomfort is vital to your mental health well being. Weather it’s talk therapy, live or virtual, psychology or psychiatric care you require.
Resources
Knowing where to get help, and what path to take to access the help you need can be a difficult endeavor? Healing Open Wounds is here to guide you in the right direction, connecting you to the mental health resources you need.
Mental Health Resources for African American Communities
Overall, mental health conditions occur in Black and African American (B/AA) people in America at about the same or less frequency than in White Americans. However, the historical Black and African American experience in America has and continues to be characterized by trauma and violence more often than for their White counterparts and impacts emotional and mental health of both youth and adults.
- Black Emotional and Mental Health (BEAM): BEAM is a training, movement building and grant making organization dedicated to the healing, wellness, and liberation of Black communities. BEAM envisions a world where there are no barriers to Black Healing.
- Toolkits & Education: graphics on accountability, self-control, and emotional awareness; journal prompts; articles on Black mental health
- Videos: trainings and webinars, recorded and available for free
- The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation: changing the perception of mental illness in the African-American community by encouraging people to get the help they need; focuses on stigma/self-stigma reduction and building trust between Black people and the mental health field.
- Resource Guide:directory of mental health providers and programs that serve the Black community; includes therapists, support groups, etc, but also digital content, faith-based programs, educational programs, etc
- Therapy for Black Girls: online space encouraging the mental wellness of Black women and girls; referral tool to find a therapist in your area
- Therapist Directory: find trusted therapists that can help you navigate being a strong, Black woman; can search for in-office therapist by your location or virtual therapist.
- The Loveland Foundation: financial assistance to Black women & girls seeking therapy
- Therapy for Black Men: primarily a therapist directory for Black men seeking therapy; includes some resources and stories.
- Ebony’s My Therapy Cards: self-exploration card deck created by a Black female psychologist for other women of color; created with the intention of helping other women of color grow and elevate in the areas of emotional and mental health.
- Innopsych: InnoPsych’s mission is to bring healing to communities of color by changing the face and feel of therapy. They strive to make therapists of color more visible in the community by creating a path to wellness-themed business ownership; to make it faster (and easier) for people of color to match with a therapist of color; and to create a major shift in how communities of color (or POCs) view therapy.
- Safe Black Space: Safe Black Space is the umbrella under which various services are offered to address people of African ancestry’s individual and community reactions to cultural and racial trauma.
Mental health Professional Volunteers and Partners
Healing Open Wounds Foundation’s vision is to ultimately improve the mental health care provided to disadvantaged members in our “community” and beyond (local, state, regional/national, including veterans) by way of acquiring the assistance of well-rounded and clinically exceptional psychiatrists and psychologists.
Despite the growing needs for quality mental health services amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic . The health care system in Georgia ranks as the second worst in the country.
The uninsured rate in Georgia is the third highest in the nation, with 13.4% of adult residents lacking health insurance. In addition, Georgia ranks among the states with the fewest number of health professionals per capita at 145 mental health providers per 100,000 residents (fifth lowest), and 66 primary care doctors per 100,000 residents (10th lowest).
We are amid an COVID-19 pandemic, Burnout and depression are well-known risks, yet funding for Georgia mental health services is facing dramatic cuts in the 2021 state budget. Current levels are unacceptably low, and further reduction will mean hardship for thousands of Georgians affected by mental illness and their families. Our service can make a difference in helping the mentally challenged in our community. We hope to accomplish this through providing mental health treatment, mentoring, educational opportunities both within and outside our institution, and in an environment that promotes inclusivity and personal well-being.
