New program to help black Winnipeggers deal with mental health impacts of racism

A local group is creating a space for black Winnipeggers to share their stories of how discrimination affects their mental health.

Project Heal is an initiative of Black Space Winnipeg.

Having to deal with racism on a daily basis can take a huge toll on a person's mental health, and even lead to serious conditions like anxiety and depression, said Sappfyre McLeod, one of the co-facilitators of the project,

"I feel that everyone of us have a mental bandwidth. There's only so much you can take in a day.

"Racism is one of those things you can't avoid. It's there every day, in every system, in every institution, and it piles on. It uses up so much of your mental bandwidth, which is already exhausted in today's society"

The goal of Project Heal is to give people in the black community a safe space for them to share their experiences, while giving them the tools to deal with the mental health challenges created by experiencing racism day-to-day, McLeod said.

"I feel like racism is one of those things that, for me, has affected self-esteem, especially growing up, my confidence, my perception of myself, my ability," she said.

"It's one of those things I've had to coach myself and learn to work through, and I want to make sure we can deliver those tools to everybody within the city."

A space to heal 

They also want to prevent people from becoming desensitized to racism and believing it's a normal thing for them to experience, said Nedu Ejeckam, another co-facilitator of Project Heal.

"I think allowing oneself to be desensitized to that type of thing can be a danger in itself because at some point, you just start to accept that that's just your reality and you stop fighting it," he said.

"That's something that we're really hoping to talk about in the program, to give credibility to the things that people are experiencing."

The program is specifically for people in the black community to give them a safe space to talk openly about their experiences.

McLeod said she feels the black community is often underserved and overlooked.

"This is a chance for us as members of the black community to be there for ourselves and support each other, to use our experience to validate one another," she said. 

"That in itself is healing, that in itself is miraculous, to create a space for ourselves to heal."

The program starts at the beginning of August at Klinic Community Health.

Those interested in registering can find more information on Black Space Winnipeg's website.