Minority Psychology Network Awarded $25,000 from the California Wellness Foundation
Mobile mental health unit and app received funding to address the mental health needs of underserved communities amid COVID-19
(Santa Clarita, California, July 7, 2021). The Minority Psychology Network (MPN) is excited to announce that they have been awarded a $25,000 grant from the California Wellness Foundation. MPN, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit working to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health in minority communities through education and expanded access to culturally competent behavioral health providers, received funding to help pilot their mobile mental health unit and app. Beginning this summer, the Mobile Mental Health Initiative will bring free, culturally competent mental health care directly to people in underserved Los Angeles neighborhoods—connecting them to services, helping them navigate a complex system, and helping build community resilience.
The California Wellness Foundation, founded in 1992, is committed to improving Californians’ health and wellness by increasing access to health care, quality education, good jobs, healthy environments, and safe neighborhoods. “We’re so grateful to Cal Wellness for believing in our work to bring high-quality behavioral health care to people in need, many of whom have been long neglected,” said Successful Brim, the founder and CEO of MPN. “In a year where we’ve seen a nationwide reckoning over racial inequality and a pandemic that has disproportionately affected minority communities, MPN is honored to have the support of an organization like this in our efforts to help people prioritize their mental health.”
MPN’s mobile unit will offer services including—among others—limited talk therapy, screenings, and stress-management workshops, while the MPN app is designed to connect visitors with available clinicians in the longer term. “Through our bus and app, we’re connecting with people right where they live, and helping them understand the services available to them,” Brim explained. “It’s not designed as a replacement for traditional behavioral health services, but as a way to start the conversation.” MPN began work on the Mobile Mental Health Initiative last year following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, purchasing a bus and starting the development of the app. Currently, the bus is undergoing renovations, while the app is in beta testing prior to the initiative’s official launch in Los Angeles later this summer. “As the world begins to transition back to ‘normal’ following more than a year of social distancing, remote schooling, and working from home, there will be important mental health implications for everyone,” Brim said. “MPN wants to help as many people grapple with these as we can, including and especially people who haven’t traditionally felt comfortable discussing their mental health. We’re here to start the conversation with them, and to help connect them to providers who understand where they’re coming from.”
For more information on MPN and the mobile mental health unit and app, or to support our work, visit https://theminoritypsychologynetwork.org.
###
PRESS CONTACT:
The Minority Psychology Network
Successful Brim, mpn@theminoritypsychologynetwork.org