Villa Maria College and two groups announced Monday they will join together to help 15 clinicians of color in their aim to offer mental health services to clients who look like them and share a cultural perspective.
Say Yes Buffalo and Healing Hub of New York, in collaboration with the Cheektowaga school, designed the program to increase the ability to provide culturally centered mental health counseling across the region.
It was a need underlined after the fatal mass shooting on May 14, 2022, of 10 Black people at the Tops on Jefferson Avenue, Say Yes Buffalo CEO David Rust said during a news conference at Villa Maria.
‘Stay connected,’ Buffalo mental health counselor advises those shaken by mass shooting
“After 5/14, we need to remember the lives that were lost,” Rust said. “We showed up regularly to help our community with counseling services, food deliveries, whatever was needed … Kelly and her team were there regularly. That’s what brought us here today, so that we could have proactive services in place so that we can help our community going forward.”
Kelly Dumas, to whom Rust referred, is executive director of Healing Hub of New York.
Dumas, who also attended the news conference, said the goal of the program is to build up clinicians of color and their practices to enable individuals “to seek help, find hope, and embark on a path towards healing and thriving in spaces that are reflective” of their prospective clients.
“The May 14 tragedy really highlighted our need to have more access to…
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