In 2021, FreedomSchool-Toronto collaborated with Adornment Stories and Tracy Ampofoh to offer a Black Mom’s Mental Health Support Group.  We created this zine as a resource for Black parents to talk about our framework for understanding Black mental health, our stories, our access to mental health care, our healing and coping.  We hope to offer this group again in the future.  Please email us if you would be interested in participating in a Black parents mental health group in the future.

Black Mom’s Mental Health Zine

Adornment Stories: Adornment Stories is a collective of Black women, femme and non-binary artist, educators and change makers with in-depth community artist experience who wish to cultivate spaces for others like us to safely tell their stories.   
Our model focuses on recognizing the unique way gender, race and intersectional identity impacts mental health. It is through storytelling, facilitation training and the arts that we provide a platform for those who have often not been heard in Mental Health Dialogue to have space and share their narratives.  For more information visit adornmentstories.com

Tracy Ampofoh is a Registered Social Worker focused on supporting folks struggling with depression, anxiety and life stress. Her lived experience as a Black womxn has brought her to this work and grounds her in it. Her work is trauma informed, person-centered, and guided by anti-oppression, intersectionality and challenges systemic oppression and anti-black racism.  She has work experiences in areas such as mental health, sexual violence prevention, housing; specifically working with youth, womxn identified folks and racialized communities. Tracy strives to include an intersectional and strength based approach in her work that blends both clinical approaches and peer based strategies. When not working she can be found watching reality television, listening to podcasts, in a drive-thru line up or with family and friends.