LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — One in four people will struggle with mental health issues at some point in their lives. The numbers are even higher in the Black community, demographic experts say they are far less likely to seek help.
But a new program is looking to change that by meeting people where they are in churches, at schools, or even the salon
Melanie Day, the owner of You’ve Got Curls salon in Lexington, is one of several local leaders taking part in UK’s new Neighborhood Healers project. Thanks to the training, she’s now more than a stylist, she’s a community first responder as well.
“There’s this saying that therapy is expensive. Get a haircut,” Day said.
“I used to be kind of nervous to even talk about suicide because you think like, if you say that word that the person might act on it. But with the training, we learned that it’s that’s not the case,” she said.