LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville's Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods is encouraging men of color to get mental health help in October.
OSHN's Trauma Resilient Communities initiative is offering free counseling for Black, Hispanic and Indigenous men suffering from "mental distress caused by daily exposure to environmental violence, poverty and racial injustice," according to a news release from OSHN on Friday.
"National and local findings have shown that men of color are significantly more likely than white males to report feeling worthless and of having no hope for getting their lives better," Nannette Dix, TRC's program manager at OSHN, said in the release, adding that "cultural stigmas of hyper-masculine ideals often permeate men of color from seeking help, in addition to the mistrust of providers, or the lack of culturally informed care."
The organization said 2020-21 regional statistics, the most recent from the Jefferson County Coroner's Office, show the local suicide for Black males under the age of 25 make up 28% of all suicides in the county. Hispanic males of the same age group make up 8% and Indigenous males' make up 4%.
Dix said the goal is to "remedy an unmet need" with the counseling services. TRC was selected to receive $25,000 in American Rescue Funds approved by Metro Council "because of its specialty of counseling for racial trauma."
Counseling is available in person or over the phone. To schedule, call TRC's 24-hour scheduling line at (502) 901-0100.
OSHN said signs with the scheduling number have been placed on billboards around the city and at bus stop shelters in areas with a higher concentration of poverty and violence.
Officials said TRC's services are available to all Louisville residents who need mental health help for "distress caused by racial, civic unrest, domestic and sexual trauma."
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