One in five American adults experience a mental health concern each year. Young people, frontline workers, and low-income New Yorkers living with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and other serious mental health concerns are often particularly vulnerable. You can help more people receive the care they need. Consider a gift to the nonprofits below that promote emotional wellbeing, reduce stigma, and advocate for better access to support.
Advocating for Better Services
The tragic killing of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway in 2023 brought a renewed urgency to calls to address the growing mental health crisis in the region and highlighted the dire need for improved access to quality care. Mental health advocates play a crucial role in securing resources and services to help New Yorkers in need, and advocating for much needed improvements in how we care for people living with mental health disorders.
The Bridge was founded as a self-help collective in 1954 by former long-term residents of a psychiatric hospital after they returned to the community and discovered a lack of supportive programs for adults with serious mental health conditions. Today, the Bridge offers a comprehensive range of evidence-based rehabilitative services, including mental health and substance abuse treatment, housing, vocational training and job placement, healthcare, education, and creative arts therapies.
The Coalition for Behavioral Health is a policy and advocacy membership group for New York’s behavioral health community. It provides policy, advocacy, training, and strategic partnership to more than 100 community-based mental health and substance use disorder providers that serve more than 600,000 people annually throughout the five boroughs.
WESTCHESTER: The Mental Health Association of Westchester (MHA) advocates for stronger behavioral health supports in Westchester County, serving as a frontline resource for children, adults, and families. MHA provides a range of integrated behavioral health care services; for example, its peer specialist program trains people with lived experience of mental health conditions to provide peer support to others.
For over 50 years, Vibrant Emotional Health has provided mental health support to New Yorkers of all ages. It operates community wellness programs, advocacy and education programs, and clinical centers and hotlines, and runs the nation’s new 988 suicide and crisis hotline. It has led trainings to help city nonprofits support the mental wellbeing of their own frontline staff and advocates for policies that benefit the communities they serve.
Supporting Young People’s Mental Health
It’s been more than a year since the American Academy of Pediatrics declared children’s mental health a national emergency, yet rates of anxiety and depression among young people continue to soar. Studies show that the majority of young people access health services at school. Many are still experiencing trauma and other mental health challenges from the pandemic, stemming from the toll of social isolation, disrupted routines, and the loss of caregivers and other loved ones. You can help our youngest community members thrive by supporting nonprofits, like those below, that improve access to mental health care and meet young people where they are.
The Child Center of New York‘s mission is to strengthen the skills of, and provide better opportunities and emotional support systems for, low-income young people in Queens. The Center focuses on socioemotional well-being, developing positive relationships with caring adults, and cultural and linguistic competency. It operates mental health clinics, manages after-school programs, and offers child abuse prevention and family support services.
The Door provides holistic services for low-income teens, many of whom experience housing insecurity or are involved in the child welfare system. Young people come to The Door for health care, mental health counseling, educational programs, meals, and other supports. The Door also is a leading provider of immigration legal services for young people, with a focus on recognizing and responding appropriately to signs that a young person has experienced trauma.
Kings Against Violence has a mission to prevent interpersonal violence in the lives of young people and provide them with the health, social, and emotional supports they need. It works with the Kings County Hospital Center to persuade young trauma patients who cycle through the hospital’s emergency room to accept follow-up services when released. It also operates a school-based conflict resolution and mediation program in Brooklyn public schools, and a leadership program that trains young people from across Brooklyn as mental health ambassadors.
LONG ISLAND: Chronic stress in children can undermine their learning, attention, memory, self-discipline, and language acquisition skills. Mission Be offers mindfulness education programs to schools on Long Island that help students better manage stress and regulate their emotions. In addition to its classroom programs, Mission Be trains public school educators how to bring mindfulness practices to their students.
This list is not exhaustive. There are many incredible nonprofits helping to make our region a better place for all; we are highlighting a few that may not be on your radar, but please reach out to our philanthropic advising department at info@nyct-cfi.org if you would like recommendations tailored to your charitable goals.