The Mental Wellness Project

About The Project

The Mental Wellness Project is a solutions-oriented journalism initiative covering mental health issues in Southwest Michigan, created by the Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative.

This is a new project built to:

LISTEN to Southwest Michigan community members about the issues affecting mental wellness
LEARN how we can improve access to mental health services and supports to build healthier, happier communities
REPORT on effective approaches that can remove barriers to mental health services

The Problem We Seek to Address

Some progress has been made toward a just and equitable healthcare system, especially with the implementation of telemedicine. However, access to mental health services remains limited due to societal stigma, shortage of mental health professionals—especially mental health professionals who are culturally competent—availability, and affordability of high-quality services to meet the gap in access.

Financial Support

The Mental Wellness Project is made possible through financial support from Solutions Journalism Network, with the mission to spread the practice of solutions journalism: rigorous reporting on responses to social problems. It seeks to rebalance the news, so that everyday people are exposed to stories that help them understand problems and challenges, and stories that show potential ways to respond.

Reach

Our work covers Southwest Michigan with a focus on:

Kalamazoo County
City of Kalamazoo and Portage, and outlying communities
Calhoun County
City of Battle Creek and outlying communities
St. Joseph County
Three Rivers, Centreville, Constantine
Cass County

Advisory Council

In practicing solutions journalism, members of the SWMJC want to engage with people most affected by their coverage to ensure they are identifying the most pressing problems and most relevant responses to accessing mental health services. An advisory council allows the collaborative to do this while gaining fresh perspectives on issues involving mental health through the Mental Wellness Project.

As such, the Mental Wellness Project Advisory Council began meeting in January of 2023 to provide input on what issues matter to them around mental health and wellness; feedback on editorial coverage; and story ideas and sources for future articles.

Mental Wellness Project Members

Chris Barnes, Private Practice
Latrieva Boston, ASK Family Services
Rubontay “Rue” Buckner, The Synergy Health Center
Alexis Caples, KYD Network
Robert Elchert, SHARE Center
Maria Faison, El Concilio
Lia Gaggino, Medical Behavioral Health Solutions
Jeanne Goodrich, Summit Pointe
Gwendolyn Hooker, Hope thru Navigation
Amy Reimann, Summit Pointe
Charles Thomas, Private Practice
A.J. Trager, Integrated Services of Kalamazoo

Cultural Conversations

Bridging the Gap for Culturally Competent Mental Health Services

There is limited availability of Black, Hispanic and LGBTQ-specific therapists, making it harder for people in these populations to find a practitioner they feel comfortable talking to.

In this audio project, presented by Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative’s Mental Wellness Project, we’ve paired two sets of therapists from different racial/ethnic backgrounds and life experiences for conversations on working with culture-specific populations.

This was primarily an opportunity for mental health professionals to share and learn together, and have open conversations to uplift mental health services for all individuals in need of support.

The collaborative is proud to share excerpts of their conversations and is thankful to these participants:

Maria Faison, El Concilio & Cherish Davis, Integrated Services of Kalamazoo
Timothy Kelly, Integrated Services of Kalamazoo & Sirilda Jones, Integrated Services of Kalamazoo

Check Out The Latest Stories From This Project

How Kalamazoo racial segregation fueled today’s home affordability problem

The massive white and middle-class flight out of the Northside and the neighborhood‘s economic decline was no accident. It was a result of public and private policies — including racially restrictive housing covenants, steering and redlining — explicitly designed to keep Black residents out of white neighborhoods and segregate Kalamazoo housing by race, all the while starving Black neighborhoods of resources.

Yes, housing really is more unaffordable in Kalamazoo — here’s why

Hatfield is looking around Kalamazoo County for affordability, hoping to stay in Kalamazoo Public Schools, without sacrificing too much in areas like safety. She scours Zillow and other websites to find homes for sale before they disappear. They often go quickly, she said. It’s a common tale in Kalamazoo County. Incomes have risen 19% since 2019 — but housing prices are up 46%. Finding housing that doesn’t break the bank used to be a problem for low-income folks. Now, even households with a decent salary are in a pinch.

Urgent Mental Health Care: ISK and police partner to build a community safety net

Sergeant Fidel Mireles II, a 25-year veteran of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, remembers well the moment in July when he saw the boy holding a knife in his outstretched hand.

Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative Continues Focus on mental wellness

Since 2021 the Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative has covered the challenges facing people with mental illness and the programs and treatments designed to serve them. WMUK’s Brian O’Keefe spoke with SWMJC freelance reporter Natasha Robinson.

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