Don't Think You're a Mental Health Funder?
With Julia Pettengill from The Schooner Foundation
TRANSCRIPT
Julia Pettengill: I would say to those who don't see themselves as mental health funders yet, I would offer this, that no matter what you're supporting whether it’s education or climate or, you know, livelihoods or health, you're already working in a space where mental health is present. You know, you don't need to become a Mental Health Funder. You need to recognize that mental health, or at least ask yourself, is mental health already threaded through the work that you do?
And I would say begin by asking your partners questions. You know, how does mental health manifest in the lives of those who you serve? You know what systems perpetuate it. How can our funding support mental health and well-being and resilience of our partners and the communities that you're serving? I you know, I would I would ask them how they're doing, you know, as a staff, I think we talked about Covid, but that when I look at this moment, this year, I, you know, we're facing just so much crisis funding cuts.
It's been devastating. You know, and so many people are really struggling. So I would say just open up the conversation. And then I would just say in addition, help shift the narrative. You know, this might mean resourcing, peer learning or investing in some research or building collective power across the field. You know, we've been working, as part of a growing ecosystem.
And, you know, we partner with, incredible, groups like Choose Love, we work with Ember Mental Health Working Group, and the Kokoro Network, who are all catalyzing global collaboration and lifting up community-driven solutions. And I would just end by saying, to bring a mental health lens into philanthropy is not simply about funding clinical services. It's about recognizing mental health as a systemic force and responding with systems of care. And again, you know, restoring agency and rebuilding connection and making healing possible at scale. And this this touches how we fund, how we partner, how we stand in solidarity with those who are carrying the heaviest burdens.
And I would say it requires some courage, you know, for those who haven't considered this, lean into courage.