Montreal’s new Black Healing Centre offers culturally grounded mental health services

For many in the Black community, finding a professional who understands racial trauma and its impact on mental health is crucial but often out of reach. Enter the Black Healing Centre, a Montreal initiative that provides access to mental health support grounded in racial justice and healing.

The centre addresses a critical gap in mental health resources, offering free or affordable care that resonates with the unique cultural and lived experiences of members of the Black community.

A space to thrive

As Danièle-Jocelyne Otou, BA ‘12, chair of the centre’s board, explains, "Access to mental health services for the Black community across Canada is a challenge. And as you start to add on the layers of trauma experienced by those holding intersectional identities, the barriers quadruple."

From discussion groups and healing retreats to a community care practitioner training program, the Black Healing Centre’s mission is to create a space where Black communities can heal, connect, and thrive on their own terms.

Community-university collaborations nurture mental health

The SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation has been a partner and funder of the Black Healing Centre since 2021. For Elisabeth Cramer, coordinator of ecosystem activation at SHIFT, the collaboration between the two centres has been highly valuable.

“It has been a privilege to witness the Black Healing Centre’s growth from a small collective to a full-fledged organization that serves as a vital resource to Black communities across Montreal,” she says.

SHIFT will host "Black Visionary Futures: Weaving Systems of Care and Solidarity," an upcoming conversation with Yolo Akili Robinson of the Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective, on December 5 from noon to 2 p.m.

The centre is also collaborating with Concordia’s Department of Applied Human Sciences, the Office of Community Engagement, and on other projects, such as a study funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The project, Community-Centred Knowledges: Fostering Black Wellness in Montreal, is co-led by Lisa Ndejuru, affiliate assistant professor and psychotherapist, and Marie-Jolie Rwigema, assistant professor. Both are faculty in Concordia’s Department of Applied Human Sciences.

Ndejuru has been working on similar community-university collaborations for two decades.

“This journey builds on Concordia’s legacy of connecting with community organizations. The collaboration is truly reciprocal, a space where the university and community learn from each other, creating impact together,” she says.

“This partnership speaks to the powerful role of these alliances in nurturing Afropositive mental health.”

Creating safe, inclusive spaces

Responding to a community-identified need, the centre recently launched a program focused on Black men’s wellness. The program was developed to address mental health among Black men, a group that often faces complex societal expectations and stigma around vulnerability and accessing care.

On November 26, the Office of Community Engagement will co-host an event on the topic, titled “Wellness spaces for Black men: About safety, survival, or both?”, as part of Concordia’s University of the Streets Café series. The series supports bilingual, public conversations in cafés and community spaces across Montreal.

For Kristen Young, Black community engagement coordinator at the office, the discussion is a chance to expand the Black Healing Centre’s reach.

“With one foot in the community and another in the university, I have the honour of spending my days working to create connections between people who wouldn’t necessarily find themselves in the same room but are working towards the same goals,” she says.

“This event is an opportunity to expand the network of actors supporting the success and expansion of the Black Healing Centre.”

Wellness spaces for Black men: About safety, survival, or both?” takes place at Never Was Average, 7422 Rue St-Hubert (metro Jean-Talon), on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, from 7 to 9 p.m.

"Black Visionary Futures: Weaving Systems of Care and Solidarity," will take place at the SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation (LB-145, 1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.) on Thursday, December 5, 2024, from noon to 2 p.m.

Learn more about Community Engagement at Concordia.