TESTIMONIALS

"I often thought that Mental Health was a term used to describe someone who was unfit. If someone said that you needed help of any kind, it was something you should take offense to. It makes sense when you think about the black culture and their view on mental fitness. The blues were something you could sing away, pray away. In some cases, it works but not all of the time.

What happens when the very words you hear wrap around your vocal cords and makes you mute. Feels something like that saying about a tree falling in a forest, who will hear it? Who will know?

There is also the fear that your sacred words will leaks onto the mouth pieces of common devices with you in ear shot. First and secondhand embarrassment.

From a single digit age, I found myself looking for my voice. I existed in an environment that feed the beast of pain. It amplified the thoughts that told me what was wrong with me, all of the terrible things I deserved and should do. It echoed in the canyons of my psyche. It echoed so loud I swore I would be carried in It’s avalanche.

In January of 2022, I made a very public post about the nature of my mental health. I was sure it was my last straw, my last attempt. SPEAK was one of the many resources sent my way. I promise I had no clue how fortunate I would be. CEO And Founder Rachel became a saving grace. I remember our first conversation took place just about a year ago today long before the sun rose. I had no idea how much I was going to be comforted in that call. I had someone to listen. We spoke several times a week. In the times I had become a shell of myself, she waited on the other side patiently. I received calls and encouraging text in the interim.

It took months for me to begin healing, or so I thought. My first step was my biggest blessing. It was when I began to heal.

Since then, I recognize that I have purpose, I have a voice. While I have been unwell in many moments, I understand the notion that I am rich and so many ways.

Daily I am reminded that I can fight to see another day. My mental fortitude and mental health coincide with my daily routines and positive affirmations. I echo the voice of my mentor who has validated my experiences time and time again. I am a SPEAKER, I have purpose, I deserve to experience the beautiful things in life and grow from the harder ones. My illnesses are eccentricities that make me who I am. I rise to the occasion, I speak in a cadence that my pain can’t match. I am protected. I am unstoppable.

In addition, as a beginner SPEAKER, I was so skeptical of the medical world in terms on Mental Health. I worked behind the scenes and lost faith in a system who was plague by others who’d lost their passion for Caring for the community. I’d been dismissed, running behind doctors in hallways who’d long clocked out in the midst of my appointment. I also sat on tables looking into the eyes of individuals who know nothing about my culture or cared to listen to what’d been ailing me for such a long time. In the last year, I found a PCP who looks just like me. A therapist who provides me with a platform to speak. I found a psychiatrist willing to measure me a whole person to find what chemical imbalances were at play. I began to clean my home, change what I put in my body, exercise, deepen my spiritual practices and truly practice being kind to myself. I explored many avenues in my lifetime. This time around I’m on the main road to recovery and I have SPEAK to thank.

I truly owe so much gratitude to a team of Individuals who came together to create something for us and by us.

To better days.