Stories

In May, SHARE Charlotte’s Spotlight Series: #MindYourMentalHealth, sponsored by Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, will focus on local nonprofit organizations who provide mental health services. These organizations each offer a different approach to healing individuals with mental health issues in our community be it through counseling groups, services dogs, or educational programs that allow people to better understand their own way of thinking. 
 

*Listed below is just a fraction of SHARE Charlotte’s nonprofit partners who work to combat the stigma of mental health and provide mental health care for individuals in our community.
*To see a full list, click HERE to explore not only how they are helping our community, but how you can get involved as you #MindYourMentalHealth this month. 

Mental Health America of Central Carolina
Mental Health America (MHA) is a nonprofit whose mission is to promote mental wellness through advocacy, prevention and education. The MHA works to tackle the stigma of mental health issues, through community education and outreach and provides information and referrals to local mental health providers.

The MHA has programs in place that offer supportive friendships for adults with chronic mental illnesses, empowerment for families of youth with mental challenges, and educational opportunities such as QPR suicide prevention and Mental Health First Aid for anyone interested. 

Teen Health Connection
Teen Health Connection provides a safe, family-centered environment for adolescents ranging in age from 11 to 22. Their services include comprehensive medical and mental healthcare along with health education that is delivered to teens when they need it, as they need it. The healthcare they provide is tailored to the unique and individual needs of teens during a time in their lives when life can be confusing and difficult to navigate on their own.

Teen Health Connection also offers outreach education and prevention programs for teens and parents in the community such as: he Teen Advisory Board and Youth Drug Free Coalition; The Big Picture; Parenting the Love and Logic Way parenting classes; Girls Educated and Motivated for Success (GEMS) mentoring program; Youth to Youth Southern States Leadership Conference; and more.

Inner Vision Inc. 
InnerVision has been the region's leader in service to individuals with trauma, addictions and mental health challenges since 2003. They use a comprehensive “one stop” approach to offer individuals with mental health and addiction challenges education and personal development tools they can use to advance and sustain their recovery.

Most unique to their organization is their daily psychosocial rehabilitation service offers skill building and skill teaching in the areas of employment, education, and social skills development using a psychiatric vocational rehabilitation approach.

Psychology For All
Psychology for All opens the door to emotional well-being through psychotherapy scholarships that positively change individual lives, families, and the Charlotte community at large. Psychology for All believes that strong mental health can lead to stability in employment and housing, positive family and social relationships, improved physical health, educational achievement, and a greater satisfaction with life. This organization knows that the impact of good mental health is extremely far reaching. 

Psychology for All emphasizes the idea that the door to emotional well-being should be available to all members of the community regardless of financial differences. They aim to remove financial barriers to mental health care. 

Promise Resource Network
Promise Resource Network is Mecklenburg’s Promise to embrace all individuals and create opportunities for wellness, healing, and transformation for people dealing with emotional distress, mental health and substance use issues.

PRN is a peer-driven nonprofit that serves individuals with mental health issues through a recovery-oriented system of care that was developed to eliminate the dependency and low expectations that are perpetuated by illness-based mental health and substance use systems through providing the supports, education, and opportunities that are necessary. Promise Resource network works to make Recovery a reality.

Healing Vine Harbor Inc. 
Healing Vine Harbor (HVH) is an independent living skills program for displaced young women (ages 17 – 30) who are in need of guidance and are not prepared for adulthood due to homelessness, abandonment, and other life struggles. HVH assists women who have aged out of the foster care system or current housing situation and are no longer safe or stable. The women HVH serves are those who lack preparation or resources for the future and are likely to end up in shelters, jail, or bounced around from place to place. HVH’s mission is to reduce the number of single women living in shelters, living on the street or living in unsafe situations in Mecklenburg County.

This organization “believes in transforming lives, one woman at a time.” HVH provides free monthly workshops that include but are not limited to: self-esteem, financial literacy, employability skills, nutrition, healthy relationships, etiquette, shopping, cooking, etc. We also provide individual mentoring and cultural enrichment.

Project2Heal
Project2Heal is a nonprofit that leverages the healing power of dogs. Dogs  provide physical and emotional healing and Project2Heal brings service dogs to those in need. Project2Heal currently serves 13 service dog organizations throughout the country and countless families in the greater Charlotte area. A Project2Heal puppy can reduce the cost of  service dog by $6000-$8000 on a total cost of between $25,000-$30,000.

Their mission: To breed, nurture and train Labrador Retrievers to provide healing for those with physical and emotional challenges.

Their vision: A community driven facility that utilizes our purpose bred pups to provide a place of peace and healing before going off to become service dogs. 

Sanctuary Counseling Group 
Sanctuary Counseling Group provides exceptional emotional, spiritual, and relational health care to all people.  They are a nonprofit center dedicated to healing the heart, mind, and soul. 

Sanctuary Counseling Group provides counseling to uninsured and under-insured clients and wants to expand their ability to serve those in need so that they never have to turn away away clients due to lack of finances or resources. 

Of course, this is not a finite list of organizations who are helping to improve the mental health of people in our community. There are many nonprofits that improve individuals’ mental health as a result of giving them a place to eat and sleep or connecting them with a network that provides a sense of belonging. Mental health is incredibly important and you should never neglect to #MindYourMentalHealth or help others do so as well.