ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month and there’s a push here in the Bay Area to make sure the services for those communities of color and others in need are being met.

On Friday, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch announced a new initiative the city is launching. Over the next three and a half years, the community support hubs will be established across the city, with the first one expected to be up and running this year.

“What we don’t hear about is accessible mental health care in the communities that are affected and that’s what this program will address directly,” he said. “Mental health access navigation services for folks in the community, where they need it and when they need it.”

The mayor said they could pay for this project using federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Well for Life nonprofit mental health organization is the lead agency on the project that will provide trauma-informed therapy, case management and outreach. The Well, their partners and the city plan to host community listening sessions. The goal of the community listening sessions is to build on that existing feedback, and focus intentionally on the development of the Hubs.

As a sub-recipient of $8.58 million of the City’s Health and Social Equity ARPA funds, the Pinellas Community Foundation (PCF) is driving the process to establish a network of Community Support Hubs throughout the city. PCF will be launching the application process for the Shared Services Organization to be selected. This will be the main administrative support for the Hubs and will build capacity in other local nonprofits as well.
 
More information will be available here once the application is launched.