Sentara Healthcare and the Urban League of Hampton Roads Announce Partnership

NORFOLK, Va. (August 3, 2022) – Howard P. Kern, CEO for Sentara Healthcare, along with Gilbert Bland, President & CEO for the Urban League of Hampton Roads (ULHR), announced a new partnership to address mental health wellness in the Black community. Sentara Healthcare is investing $250,000 with the Urban League to increase outreach and awareness of vital resources and services to help people in need of mental health services. The Urban League will partner with both Norfolk State University’s (NSU) Center for African American Public Policy and the Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) to provide educational workshops and supportive research for the development of a sustaining mental health literacy program.

“We are excited to announce our partnership with The Urban League of Hampton Roads,” stated Dana Beckton, Sentara’s Chief Diversity Officer. “Mental illness is nondiscriminatory and affects all races, ages, income and communities, but underserved populations, most often times communities of color, tend to suffer in silence. Our investment with the Urban League supports their ongoing advocacy efforts to close the health disparities among Black and other minority populations.”

According to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Black adults in the U.S. are more likely than White adults to report persistent symptoms of emotional distress. Despite the needs, only one in three Black adults who need mental health care receive it. One study showed that 63% of Black people believe that a mental health condition is a sign of personal weakness. As a result of the stigma, people may experience shame about having a mental illness and worry that they may be discriminated against due to their condition.

ULHR, NSU and EVMS will partner with the faith-based community to engage pastors, clergy leadership and congregants about the importance of mental health wellness. The initial target population will be Hampton, Newport News and Suffolk – who each have the highest percentage of Black population in those cities.

“We are honored by Sentara’s significant investment to the Urban League of Hampton Roads and commitment to improve mental health and wellness within our communities of color,” said Gil Bland, President & CEO for the Urban League of Hampton Roads.  “The data is daunting.  Across the U.S. economy, serious mental illness causes $193.2 billion in lost earnings each year. According to Mental Health America, 13.4% of the US Population identifies as African American. Of those, more than 16% reported having a mental illness over the past year – equating to over 7 million people. Unfortunately, despite the need – the stigma associated with mental illness keeps Black people from seeking help for mental illness. Today’s announcement allows us to further our efforts to educate and connect the Black community to important mental health service.”