This group is bringing queer mental health support to Afghanistan

Nuci’s Space aims to prevent suicide by providing a safe space for people of all ages, particularly youth, to connect and play music. They also offer affordable practice spaces and mental and physical health care services for participants, including affordable counseling.

Through the Friendship Bench project, local elderly women are trained in the basics of cognitive behavioral therapy and given a park bench in their communities where locals experiencing mental health issues can meet with them to talk and seek therapy. Founded in 2007, the project has helped 280,000 people in 70 communities throughout the country.

The three-digit mental health crisis hotline — 988 — allows peop;le in crisis to get in touch with a counselor immediately. Since launching a year ago, the state’s 12 crisis centers have received more than 280,000 calls. Due to increased need, crisis centers are making plans to expand their services by hiring more staff and developing Spanish language services.

ACCESS Open Minds connects youth and young adults to mental health support, including therapists, caseworkers and peer navigators to help them get the care they need. One of ACCESS’s main goals is to bridge the gap between the complexities of the mental health care system and the community. By creating these youth wellness hubs and connecting people with the appropriate services, ACCESS has decreased the number of hospitalizations and emergency room visits and increased the number of people getting mental health care.

Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANi) offers free programs that provide mental health first aid and suicide intervention. MANi provides virtual counseling facilitated by trained, volunteer professionals as well as in-person offerings like conversation cafes and other group talks that aim to sensitize and educate people about mental health. In the last four years, MANi has provided direct support to over 40,000 people, the majority of which are between the ages of 10 and 25.

The Renovaré Mental Health Initiative fills the mental health care gap with peer counseling and trains students on how to provide basic counseling and mental health aid, which increases access to important mental health care services. Since its inception, the initiative has trained over 100 peer counselors. It has also organized various seminars to educate people on the consequences of not treating mental illnesses.

There are several new projects and services emerging to improve access to mental health care, with more resources in development. From the Integrated Services of Kalamazoo and St. Joseph Community Mental Health now offering subsidized services to improved ease of access when reaching the National Suicide Hotline, state, and federal policymakers are working to allocate more funds to expand access.

The Crisis Response Center provides mental health and crisis care services as an alternative to emergency rooms or jails. The center is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and offers a variety of services focused on recovery for children, teens and adults struggling with mental health and/or substance abuse. The Center is set to expand ahead of the new 988 dialing code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Once expansions are done, the Center will have the capacity to serve between 400 and 600 extra visits a month, on top of the 800 to 1,000 adults who visit the center each month.

California’s Los Angeles Police Department has built mental health into its force. The department has 16 psychologists on staff, offering free counseling and debrief sessions after traumatic incidents. As the New York Police Department faces an increase in officer suicides, it looks to the LAPD as it rolls out its new suicide prevention initiatives, like a mental health app, mental health insurance, and access to counseling.

After shortages of mental health options for kids and untold grief, counties in Wisconsin have responded with new kinds of support for at-risk youth. Wisconsin communities have increased access with reduced wait time, and have used horse therapy, support groups, charity golf that raises awareness, school-group therapy, as well as mobile live chat sessions, among others.