The shortage of Black, licensed mental health providers is the problem that the Mary Ellen Strong Foundation is working to solve.
MESF is working to address the shortage of Black, licensed mental health providers via three vehicles: 1) The MESF Mental Health Professional Development Program; 2) MESF’s Wellness Retreats which offer culturally centered programming for Black mental health providers and 3) The Directory of Black Psychotherapists for Minnesota and Wisconsin housed on its website.
MESF hosted its first Mental Health Wellness Retreat for Black providers last year.
MESF’s Mental Health Professional Development program provides scholarship, mentorship and professional growth opportunities to African American graduate students pursuing degrees in mental health and for those in the early stages of their careers in mental health.
MESF would also like to thank its program patrons, SVI International, Youthprise and the Catalyst Initiative of the Minneapolis Foundation as well as the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at UWM and the Office of Violence Prevention for sponsoring its upcoming Mental Health Scholarship Luncheon.
