Niagara group aims to bridge the gap in mental health services for young Black men

Since 2019, Future Black Female (FBF) has been helping young Black women and girls summation entree to intelligence wellness services, fiscal literacy and vocation strategies.

Focusing connected the ages of 16 to 22, FBF aims to assistance that demographic done transitional moments similar graduating from precocious school, leaving location and getting a archetypal job.

Now, the non-profit is looking to grow that ngo to enactment young Black men and boys done a task called Ujamaa, which Bell said means "brotherhood," successful Swahili.

Ujamaa is besides utilized arsenic a word for extended household and a rule of Kwanzaa that means gathering assemblage done shared societal wealth.

FBF's assemblage engagement worker, Leon Bell, said the programme came unneurotic retired of a request for services to get implicit the stigma of seeking nonrecreational help.

"A batch of young Black men and boys successful Canada whitethorn person Caribbean oregon African roots," said Bell.

"In their household, it whitethorn not beryllium thing that is usually addressed oregon that they consciousness is important."

He said the programme aims to flooded taste barriers and added services similar this 1 are indispensable astatine that age.

"There's a batch of trauma successful the assemblage … If this goes unaddressed, past it conscionable could spiral into different things similar incarceration oregon [homelessness.]"

'What astir the boys?'

FBF was started by Tapo Chimbganda who was informed by her ain acquisition arsenic a 21-year-old Black migrant successful Canada.

"If I had the community, if I had the supports, I astir apt wouldn't person experienced truthful overmuch trauma, truthful overmuch challenges, truthful overmuch barriers," she said. 

Chimbganda has a PhD successful language, civilization and teaching and a master's grade successful psychotherapy and said she's worked successful antithetic communities successful the Niagara region.

"I kept coming crossed a akin story, particularly for Black women and different women of colour, the societal isolation, the not knowing similar elemental things and wherefore fiscal literacy is truthful important to us," she said.

That's wherefore she built FBF connected 3 pillars: intelligence health, fiscal literacy and acquisition and vocation strategies.

Since being funded successful 2019, Chimbganda said FBF has helped hundreds of young Black women and girls not conscionable regionally, but besides provincially and nationally. 

Seeing the enactment FBF was doing, she said parents, younker and different assemblage members started asking "what astir the boys?"

One of the program's goals is to make harmless and culturally applicable spaces for Black boys and young men.

Bell said this would look similar "sporting activities, playing chess successful a assemblage centre, oregon it could beryllium conscionable coming unneurotic and sharing food."

On June 28, FBF held a barbecue lawsuit wherever they called retired to young Black men and boys and launched Ujamaa.

Demystifying intelligence wellness services

Chimbganda said, portion speaking to youth, she and Bell heard young men saying "yes" erstwhile asked if intelligence wellness is important, but "no" to if they would spot a therapist. 

"There's a batch of enigma astir it, right? So, portion of the stigma that we're trying to code with that is conscionable demystifying intelligence wellness and therapy," she said.

Ola Kuforiji, a Hamilton-based registered psychotherapist volition beryllium moving with FBF to code that.

"There was ever a tendency for maine to beryllium capable to assistance span a spread betwixt the, astatine times, sterile oregon adjacent whitewashed satellite of intelligence wellness wrong institutions and communities, specifically assorted Black communities," helium said.

Kuforiji said the pandemic isolated and "robbed" young radical of important, milestone events similar graduations and schoolhouse dances.

He besides highlighted different concerns helium hears from young Black antheral clients, similar a fearfulness of having the "wrong opinion," however to respond to unfair attraction specified arsenic racism, and isolation.

Helping young Black men find their voice

Young Black men and boys thin to look astatine influencers and podcasters for proposal now, said Kuforiji, making it hard for them to orient themselves.

"It's important to basal connected the enarthrosis of giants," helium said. "But what tin happen, you know, erstwhile we're feeling peculiarly lost, down oregon anxious is we tin suffer our ain voice."

He aims to assistance radical find their voice. 

"Then for men, and young Black men especially, [they wonder], 'how bash I specify my masculinity? What does that mean? Can I adjacent usage that term?'" said Kuforiji.

Kuforiji besides wants to absorption connected guiding radical to understand what harmless places are and however to beryllium susceptible successful them. 

He said it tin beryllium hard for these young men to spot people, adjacent if they look similar them, which is wherefore getting them done the doorway astatine a consultation oregon a archetypal league is truthful important.