Thanks to the team at Believe New York, the Sprout Society team spent the day on July 27th in New York City with 20+ other mental health and wellness organizations.
For their first-ever Free Mental Health Support Fair, Believe brought together organizations from throughout New York that work across the mental health and wellness space in different capacities. The event’s goal was to support people with free services and support from everything from Medicaid enrollment to psychiatric assistance to Sprout Society’s nonclinical offerings.
Over 100 individuals came throughout the day and many participated in Believe’s bespoke intake process, which matches them one-to-one with a support staff member who will help them navigate the systems they are working within for services (eg housing security, insurance, etc.).
Believe and Sprout Society have been getting to know one another as organizations over the last six months. Believe New York is a grassroots 501c3 that connects New Yorkers with the support they need to survive and thrive. In their own words, BNY’s mission “is to improve the lives of all New Yorkers and beyond, and ensure all people regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, gender, and/or race can find and have access to the resources they need to survive and thrive. We aim to help all individuals and families who need us, specifically individuals experiencing poverty, homelessness, mental illness, domestic violence, discrimination, unemployment, disability, loss, trauma, and/or any form of hardship that impacts their well-being. In addition, we are committed to healthier communities and reducing our carbon footprint. Throughout all our efforts, we are focused on doing our part to improve our environment and overall community health.”
At Sprout Society, we firmly believe that the best services are provided to folks when organizations and people do what they do best and seek our partnerships for the rest. It community mental health work, it can be tempting to try and address or solve all problems at once. However, the most effective, culturally appropriate support is given when an organization can say “We don’t do that, but we know somebody who does!”
Throughout the last year, Sprout Society has been hard at work identifying other players in the space that can augment and support our services, particularly in areas that we don’t actively serve. Events like the Mental Health Fair are crucial to the landscape as they show both organizations and users that the goal is services provided, not who provides them.
We look forward to many more events like this and a deepening partnership with the wonderful team at Believe New York.
