July 2025

In 2008, inspired by Bebe Moore Campbell’s charge to end stigma and provide mental health support for minoritized communities, the US House of Representatives designated July as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. Campbell understood that mental health isn’t just about individual healing — it’s about community transformation. Her vision was radical yet simple: creating spaces where cultural wisdom meets modern understanding, where lived experiences become guideposts for others walking similar paths. Learn more and download a toolkit on the NAMI website.

In preparation for July, Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, also known as National BIPOC Mental Health Month, Mental Health America has released their 2025 BIPOC Mental Health Toolkit - now available in English and Spanish  - at mhanational.org/july. This free resource is packed with tools to help you spark conversations and take meaningful steps to improve mental health in communities of color.

Movement leaders are meeting the current moment by building better systems rooted in equity, inclusion, and justice for all. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shares Three Ways to Show Up for Disability Justice.

Learn about the history of the ADA and the Disability Rights Movement from the American Association of People with Disabilities, a national disability-led and cross-disability rights organization.

Explore the Rooted in Rights Blog to find pieces that share perspectives on disability, amplify key issues and ideas, and make it known loud and clear that disability rights are human rights.

The Arc’s National Council of Self-Advocates selected the 2025 Disability Pride Month theme: We Belong Here, and We’re Here to Stay. It delivers a powerful message—people with disabilities are a vital part of every community. Not someday. Not conditionally. Now. As disability rights face growing threats in education, employment, health care, and public life, this year’s theme is a clear call to action.

NTCSN Resource: Centering and Compensating Lived Expertise

This new resource from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network explores how relationships with people with lived experience are essential to trauma-informed care by emphasizing the importance of shared decision-making, mutual respect, and authentic collaboration. It highlights practical strategies and guiding principles for centering lived expertise within organizations and systems committed to healing.

CTIPP CAN July Meeting

Join Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice for their July Community Advocacy Network call. These calls are free and open to anyone seeking community, networking, and resource sharing with the trauma-informed movement. Register on the CTIPP website.

Pushout Documentary Virtual Screening

Join Greater Richmond SCAN on July 21 from 12:00-2:00pm for a free virtual screening of PUSHOUT, a feature length documentary that takes a close look at the educational, judicial, and societal disparities facing Black girls. Inspired by the groundbreaking book by Monique W. Morris, Ed.D., the documentary confronts the ways in which the misunderstanding of Black girlhood has led to excessive punitive discipline, which in turn disrupts one of the most important factors in their lives - their education. Register on Zoom.

Free Virtual Trainings from Greater Richmond SCAN

July 2, 2025 | The Impact of Trauma Exposure on Professionals

3:00-4:30pm via Zoom

*CEUs available to purchase

July 15, 2025 | Introduction to Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care

2:00-4:00pm via Zoom

*CEUs available to purchase

July 24, 2025 | Trauma-Informed Supervision

9:00-11:00am via Zoom

*CEUs available to purchase

July 31, 2025 | Trauma and Attachment

9:00-10:00am via Zoom

Parents of LGBTQ+ Youth Support Group

This ongoing, virtual, free and confidential weekly group for Virginia parents and caregivers of LGBTQ+ children and youth is held every Friday from 11am-12pm. Contact vaparentsofLGBTQyouth@gmail.com if you are interested in joining and for more information.

We all can get so caught up in the mundane aspects of daily life that we become disconnected from the small moments of wonder all around us. But joyful surprises can be found everywhere, if we simply pause to notice them and approach them with a new perspective. This is the essence of beginner’s mind: an attitude of openness and curiosity, a sense of experiencing something as if for the first time. In this exercise, Eve invites us to explore a familiar space with fresh eyes and to direct our focus to one thing that makes us smile or laugh. This simple visualization will help you feel refreshed and rejuvenated.

For questions and support, contact:

Charlotte Eure, MSW

ceure@grscan.com

VA TICNs Website