New Orleans, La., May 23, 2022 – The American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF) announced the winners of its 2022 Awards for Advancing Minority Mental Health at its annual benefit held in conjunction with APA’s 2022 Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

Since 2003, the APA Foundation has recognized 99 community-based organizations with awards totaling $495,000 for their innovative and supportive efforts to raise awareness about mental illness in underserved minority communities. These efforts promote the early recognition, improving access to quality mental health services, and addressing cultural barriers to treatment, with special attention to those in the public health system or with severe mental illness. The awards include a financial contribution of $5,000 for each organization, as well as an engraved plaque and a featured article in APA Psych News.

“Despite many uncertainties brought on or exposed by the pandemic, we are proud to recognize this select group of awardees for helping to advance mental health equity for our neighbors need and their families,” said APAF Executive Director Rawle Andrews, Jr., Esq. “We cannot meet the moment without them.”

This year’s winners include:

• Chaldean Community Foundation (CCF), founded in 2006, is dedicated to advancing the social, cultural heritage and charity work with the Chaldean community in Sterling Heights, Michigan. CCF works to improve the stability, health and mental wellness of those they serve through advocacy, acculturation, community development and cultural preservation.
• Good News Clinics, founded in 1992 in Gainesville, Georgia, is a nonprofit organization providing free medical and dental care to uninsured residents of Hall County who cannot afford to purchase health care services. In 2015, the Good News Clinics recognized the need to provide patients with mental health counseling and began providing one-on-one counseling, educational classes and therapeutic groups.
• Memphis Family Connection Center was founded to provide access to holistic, mental health care to one of the most vulnerable populations: the adoptive and foster care community, which in Memphis is directly linked to minorities.
• The Mount Sinai Hospital Wellness Centre (MSHWC) is a community-based mental health program for Chinese-speaking individuals aged 65 years or above and their caregivers in Toronto, Canada. MSHWC is the only hospital-affiliated mental health program in Ontario – and one of the very few anywhere in North America – that is dedicated to providing language-specific and culturally sensitive mental health services to Chinese-speaking seniors.
• Postpartum Support International (PSI) promotes awareness, prevention, and treatment of mental health issues related to childbearing in every country worldwide. PSI promotes this vision through advocacy and collaboration, and by educating and training the professional community and the public.
• Starting Right, Now (SRN), working in Tampa, Florida, aims to end homelessness for youth by providing one-on-one mentoring, providing a stable home, assisting with employment opportunities, teaching financial literacy/life skills and promoting educational achievement. SRN fulfills physiological/safety needs first by providing free, long-term housing to homeless unaccompanied youth, then engages its residents in holistic healing.
• The New York Foundling provides mental health treatment and social services targeted to the needs, strengths, and cultures of its diverse community, and is committed to removing disparities. Specific programs center on three underserved communities: LGBTQIA+ youth and their families; the Deaf community; and Latinx and African American families in Harlem.

American Psychiatric Association Foundation

The American Psychiatric Association Foundation is the nonprofit arm of the American Psychiatric Association. The APAF complements the professional work of the APA through public outreach programs with the goal of eliminating stigma surrounding mental health, investing in the future leaders of psychiatry, supporting research and training to improve mental health care, and leading partnerships to address public challenges in mental health. For more information, please visit www.apafdn.org.

American Psychiatric Association

The American Psychiatric Association, founded in 1844, is the oldest medical association in the country. The APA is also the largest psychiatric association in the world with more than 37,000 physician members specializing in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and research of mental illnesses. APA’s vision is to ensure access to quality psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. For more information, please visit www.psychiatry.org.