Mental health is often seen as something deeply individual and isolating. But in reality, it is shaped every day by the world around us—where we live, whether we have safe housing, reliable access to healthy food, and the resources we need for overall well-being. These factors are not just background details; they are at the heart of what helps us experience more good days, together.

As Mental Health Awareness Month comes to a close, we’re invited to look beyond ourselves and consider the bigger picture. Our mental health is profoundly influenced by our environments and by the systems we build as a community. More good days don’t happen in isolation—they grow from the environments we create and the care we show each other.

In this issue, we explore how mental health is shaped by the places we call home, the resources we can count on, and the support we find in our communities—because well-being isn’t something we carry alone, it’s something we build together, all year round.


Changemaker Spotlight: A Conversation with 
Claude King

This month, we’re featuring a conversation with Claude King, a licensed clinical professional counselor, who shares valuable insights on supporting Black men’s mental well-being. Claude highlights the significant stigma men often face when it comes to seeking help for mental health—especially in Black communities, where cultural expectations around strength and self-reliance can make reaching out even more difficult.

Drawing from his work in Chicago, Claude discusses how meeting basic needs like safe housing, food security, and access to care is essential, but so is breaking down barriers of silence and shame. He encourages open conversations, culturally competent support, and building environments—at home, at work, and in the community—where men feel safe to ask for help without judgment.

By challenging stigma and coming together to meet both practical and emotional needs, we can create the conditions for more good days together.

Partner Spotlight: Mindful Philanthropy

At its heart, Mindful Philanthropy is an organization reimagining what it means to give with intention. As we close out Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re highlighting Mindful Philanthropy— a thought leader in moving from transactional support to intentional, community-centered investment.

At a time when so much of philanthropy is driven by urgency, Mindful Philanthropy is helping shift the focus toward alignment, collaboration, and long-term impact. As a national network of funders, they work to bring together donors, foundations, and leaders to move resources more thoughtfully—centering mental health and well-being as essential to thriving communities.

Their approach is simple but powerful: when we listen more closely, invest more strategically, and work more collectively, our impact goes further.

This is the first report in the Flourish Together series and outlines the youth mental health funding priority. 


Flourish Together: Mental Health Funding Priorities is Mindful Philanthropy’s integrated framework for helping philanthropy move from increasing commitment to greater coherence in mental health, addiction, and well-being.

Youth mental health does not begin in crisis. It develops over time through relationships, environments, connections, and opportunities to grow. Yet today, most systems remain organized around responding after distress escalates rather than investing earlier in the conditions that help young people flourish.

Upstream Investment Across the Developmental Journey

Mindful Philanthropy reminds us that changemaking isn’t only about responding to what’s urgent—it’s about investing in what will sustain people and communities over time.

Creative Corner

by Pea The Feary for Amplifier Art

This artwork reflects the importance of expressing what we carry internally, especially in a world where so many people move through difficult emotions in silence.

Beyond Mental Health Awareness Month, it reminds us that sharing our feelings can help others better understand our experiences and create deeper human connection.

Being open about what we feel can make someone else feel less alone, while also creating space for healing, reflection, and support.

Must-Read

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

What Plays a Role in Developing Mental Health Conditions?

by Mental Health America

The article highlights how social determinants influence mental health outcomes. By emphasizing that conditions like poverty, racism, and social disconnection can increase stress and weaken wellbeing, it reinforces a critical insight: mental health is deeply rooted in the environments and systems people navigate every day.

Mental Health During Global Conflict

by Mental Health America

At a time when many communities are navigating war, conflict, and growing uncertainty around the world, this article highlights how these forces ripple far beyond those directly affected, shaping emotional well-being across entire populations—through grief, fear, anger, and a growing sense of helplessness. 

By naming these shared emotional responses, it underscores an important truth: mental health is deeply connected to the conditions we live in, including the social and political forces that define our collective experience.

Photo by Fernando on Unsplash

Podcast Picks

Photo by NAMI

Mental Health Care Rooted in Community Featuring Dr. Sidney Hankerson

Source: NAMI

This episode explores how communities are reimagining mental health by building solutions from within. Through real-world examples like the HOPE Center, it highlights how partnership, trust, and local leadership can transform mental health outcomes—reminding us that lasting change doesn’t come from systems alone, but from communities working together.

The Intersection of Community Development & Mental Health

Source: Build Healthy Places Network

Mental health is shaped by the places we live. Housing, neighborhood conditions, and community investment all matter. Explore the connection through this resource from Build Healthy Places Network.

Mental Health Awareness Month Toolkit

Source: SAMHSA

“This toolkit provides social media content to help spread awareness about the vital role mental health plays in well-being and promote acceptance and support of anyone living with mental illness. The toolkit also provides best practices for engaging in health discussions about mental health and promotional materials for mental health awareness in May and beyond." 

SAVE THE DATE: 
WE RISE & WIN TOGETHER WEEK

Rooted and Reimagining


July 8 - 10, 2026



July 8th from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM ET

July 9th from 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET

July 10th from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM ET

Virtually and in hosting communities across the world

What does it mean for us to be rooted and reimagining as changemakers in this time?

How do we show up as better ancestors and founders of the next 250 years?



What paths can we take to rest, resilience, and renewal?

Join us at the WE RISE & WIN Together Week and bring your voice and your pieces of the puzzle to these conversations. 

We will connect, explore, and visualize together how we can show that real change is possible, how we can grow the changemakers, and how we can power change with infrastructure, tools, and resources for the future we want to build together.

Plus, you'll get a first peek at new frameworks and strategies emerging among us to build the communities and the world we need, as better ancestors.

Over three days, we will look at:



• Solidarity, sensemaking, and resilience — How we meet people in the realities they are facing now, and what efforts help communities to stabilize while making a different way visible.
• Practical, powerful change — Strategies that can help people root change in practice, from learning communities and initiatives that show what is possible, to infrastructure that supports people to make the change a new norm.
• Reimagining the future together — How a seven-generation orientation enables us to both respond to the present and leave future generations healthier than the ones we inherited.




Get involved

Want to help plan the gathering? Have something to share? A piece of art or a documentary? Email us at we@weintheworld.org!

We will be sharing more details closer to the time. We can’t wait to see you and be in community with you.