Mental Health Meets Hip Hop
Contestant Details
Innovative Mental Health Recovery
About Mental health meets hip-hop
Year Participated
2022
Status
Semifinalist
Watch their Semifinalist Pitch Here!
Mental Health Meets Hip Hop all started from when my cousin died by suicide when I was younger. To cope I got into writing, which lead me into using music and the arts as a way to cope with my pain. I later went to school and received my BA in psychology and became a mental health professional and then pursued my MBA, and Illinois teaching license. This allowed me to be a counselor on the National Suicide Prevention hotline, and an outpatient mental health professional for Chicago community organizations.
After that, I became an Associate Executive Director for a severe mental health rehabilitation facility here in Chicago. Utilizing my lived experience and seeing the need of mental health education in communities like mine, I developed my organization to help those in need. Furthermore, utilizing my network of mental health professionals from my community and others, I was able to create a hub of Mental Health professionals from the same areas. Self expression and creativity helped me with my innate pain and it was a need I didn’t see in traditional organizations or mental health facilities.
Mental Health Meets Hip-Hop shines on the south side by helping youth and young adults on the South Side implement cultural sensitivity pathways to mental health recovery. Utilizing innovative workshops like our Mental Mindfulness groups, co-creation of writing & book creation, and our mobile studio, we speak the language and create innovative interventions to help these areas.