Text graphic with the phrase 'Surviving Through Mental Health' in white font on a black background.

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This annual July initiative, held in recognition of Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, helps spark open conversations around mental wellness while connecting residents with real support and resources.

Giving attendees direct access to mental health services, trusted providers, and community-based support. By bringing these resources into one space, we meet individuals where they are, making it easier to connect, ask questions, and take the next step toward care.

Resource Connection

Powered by collaboration, bringing together leaders and organizations. These partnerships help us meet real community needs, expand access to resources, and bridge the gap between people and the support available to them.

Strong Community Partnerships

Sparking real conversations through lived experiences and authentic voices. This initiative creates a space where people can share, learn, and support one another, providing a platform that turns personal stories into connection and community impact.

Community Engagement

Fostering a welcoming environment where healing, honesty, and compassion is prioritized by normalizing conversations around mental health, to help reduce stigma and encourage community-wide support.

Creating a Stigma-Free Space

600+ Lives Reached.

Breaking barriers one conversation at a time.

This conversation is important because it creates space to confront the stigma and cultural barriers that often keep individuals and families from seeking support. In many communities, conversations around mental health are still discouraged or misunderstood, leading people to suffer in silence rather than access care. By normalizing these discussions and connecting residents to trusted resources, this initiative helps break down those barriers, encourages early support, and builds a stronger, more informed community around mental wellness.

Get Involved

Closing the gap between awareness and access……

Surviving Through Mental Health (STMH), founded in 2024 by Danica Royster and Shawnice Hernandez in partnership with the Norfolk Community Services Board, STMH has grown from a single event into a recognized initiative across Hampton Roads.

Stepping in to close the gap between awareness and access, this initiative creates space for real conversations, connect people to trusted resources, and make support feel more approachable. By meeting people where they are and working alongside the community, we help break down stigma and ensure more individuals and families get the support they need.

For more info click here

  • Three smiling people posing together indoors, two women and one man in a blue suit, with a colorful abstract painting behind them, and a table with snack bags in the background.
  • Three women standing together taking a selfie. The woman on the left is wearing glasses and a leopard print dress. The woman in the middle is holding a bouquet of pink flowers and wearing a black t-shirt with yellow and white text and symbols, smiling at the camera. The woman on the right is wearing a black and white geometric patterned shirt and holding the bouquet, also smiling.
  • Audience members sitting in theater seats, applauding and watching a presentation or performance.
  • A diverse group of eleven people, including men and women, standing in a line in an indoor setting, smiling and posing for the photo. The group is dressed in business casual attire, with one person in a police uniform and another in a t-shirt with a message about mental health.
  • A woman sitting at a table with mental health awareness materials, snacks, and promotional items at a mental health services event.
  • A man with glasses and a beard, in a dark blazer, is talking to two people at a table with orange cloth, which has cups, bottles, and other items on it. The woman with black hair and wearing a black top is facing him, and an older man with gray hair, in a blue shirt, is holding a green bag.
  • A diverse group of people walking inside a modern building with a wooden staircase. Some individuals are wearing white T-shirts with green text, likely participating in an event or walk. The scene is well-lit with natural light, and there are tables and informational displays in the background.
  • Four women standing together at a mental health event, wearing matching beige t-shirts with green text and yellow volunteer badges, smiling and joining hands, with a display of t-shirts and a wire grid backdrop behind them.
  • Crowd of people in a lobby receiving food and drinks at a distribution event, with some wearing masks and carrying bags.

  • Last night’s Surviving Through Mental Health event really stayed with me. Hearing everyone’s stories; the honesty, vulnerability, and strength, was incredibly moving. It reminded me of how powerful it is just to be in a space where people are open about what they’ve been through and how they’re getting through it. It didn’t feel like just an event; it felt like community, like healing. I’m really thankful I got to be there and to hear community leaders and state legislatures speak about the struggles within the Hampton roads community.

    F. Webb

  • Inspiring, real, focused on policy and identifying the challenges as well as solutions; having vendors present was great from an access and equity standpoint.

    K. Norwood

  • It was empowering to see how a community can come together and be supportive and welcoming! I've been struggling with mental health for some time now (self-diagnosed depression & anxiety) and sometimes I dont know where or who to turn to. So to see a community that came together and shared relatable issues and be supportive fulfilled me. I was nervous at first because I went alone but I'm so glad I did and hope to attend again next year. This event was needed for me. Maybe next time I can make a friend or two.

    B. Jones