Taraji P. Henson’s Mental Health Foundation Partners With Kate Spade To Launch ‘She Care Wellness Pods’ At HBCUs

Taraji P. Henson is known to get real about the importance of mental health care and awareness, as she’s been vulnerable and open about her own experiences with anxiety and depression. Lately, she’s been on a quest to help Black women college students with their mental health journeys. This spring, her organization, The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation (BLHF) and kate spade new york are teaming up to create more accessible mental health resources for women and girls, and together are announcing the launch of She Care Wellness Pods. It’s a program that aims to reach over 25,000 Black women on HBCU campuses with frontline mental wellness care. Alabama State University is the first stop on the multi-year initiative HBCU tour this spring.

“The stress of balancing college life, separation anxiety, relationship issues, and depression commonly occur on college campuses,” says Joyce Loyd-Davis, Alabama State University’s senior director of health services. “The She Care Wellness pods will be impactful for helping students cope with these issues and focus on a healthy mental well-being, ultimately restoring joy.”

Founded in 2018, The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation’s mission is to eradicate the stigma around mental health in the African American community. As the country’s pioneering Black mental health advocacy group, BLHF provides access to localized and culturally competent therapy and integrated wellness resources through a network of clinicians, practitioners, counselors, and thought leaders. She Care Wellness Pods are a part of BLHF’s broader initiative, “Meeting You Where You Are,” offering hassle-free access to mental health resources in traditional and non-traditional spaces where African Americans convene. The initiative includes He Care and They Care Pods. The She Care initiative continues Henson’s work with the kate spade brand, having served as a social impact council member for the brand since January 2022. This first-of-its-kind program was conceived by Henson and Tracie Jade Jenkins, the foundation’s executive director.

“Our social impact mission is to empower women and girls across the globe by putting mental health at the heart of our approach. Women’s and girls’ mental health has long been underfunded, undervalued, and under-acknowledged. We are proud of our partnership with Taraji, Tracie, and The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation. This organization shares our commitment to providing mental health resources to communities that need it the most,” says kate spade new york CEO and brand president Liz Fraser.

In partnership with trusted community resources, the program will take a multifaceted approach through the opening of She Care Wellness Pods, physical structures installed on campuses that offer a range of services, including free mental health virtual and in-person therapy sessions for women students experiencing significant stress, anxiety, and depression. Hangout spaces will provide psychoeducation sessions that allow students to connect with peers and mental wellness professionals to address students’ specific challenges. There will also be self-regulatory practices including yoga, meditation, art, sound and dance therapy, all provided by certified practitioners. Lastly, the wellness pods will include workshops and seminars on various student-requested topics and rest pods for silence and respite to reset from daily stressors.

“Tracie and I grew up in a community where women were expected to store the pain and struggles of inequities and disparities faced daily in education, healthcare, and the workplace. We believed that mental health was a commodity for the rich and those who didn’t look like us,” Henson says. 

She continues, “We are grateful for this partnership with kate spade new york. Together, we are changing the narrative and charting a new course for women who are experiencing the ‘Strong Black Woman Syndrome.’”

Jade added, “In this revolutionary endeavor, Black women on HBCU campuses will be empowered through the modality of self-regulation experiences. Soon they will enter a world, essentially not designed to support them. A world where the value of women and women’s rights are still being challenged. This is a space for respite, preparation, and actualizing joy.” 

When asked why it was important for her to create this initiative, Henson pointed back to the alarming mental illness statistics affecting younger people. “Sixty percent of students drop out of college because they are struggling with their mental health issues and don’t have access to resources, so we wanted to intervene and do something there because that’s preventable,” she tells ESSENCE.

Henson reflected on her own mental health struggles as a teen mom while she attended Howard University. She wishes she had access to programs similar to the pods. “You’re going through a lot at that age,” she says. “I was probably suffering from anxiety then and didn’t know it. I used to bite my nails down to a nub. I didn’t know that it was anxiety until I graduated. I also became a young mother in college. I’m grateful that I had family and friends to support me. Still, many young women dropped out because they became mothers in college, and maybe if we had these pods on campus, this would have been a place for them to seek refuge and receive the support they weren’t getting at home.”

More importantly, Henson strives to foster a safe space for students to be vulnerable about their mental health issues and to know that they aren’t alone. She also wants younger Black women to divest from feeling like they must always be strong, especially during adversity. “We’re always told to be strong. That’s such a myth. You can’t possibly be strong all the time; the strength is in vulnerability, and that’s why we’re suffering in silence,” she shares. 

Henson also recognizes the power of preventive care regarding mental health illness. “The symptoms emerge between 18 and 24, a prime time in your college life. Some of these statistics could be helped if students were getting help,” she adds. “Having these pods on campuses allows us to spark conversation in a less clinical way. If you know someone suffering on campus, it’s not taboo to talk about, and now you have somewhere to send them.”