By Sharde Gilam
Tarai P. Henson is a big advocate for mental health, especially when it comes to the mental health of Black women. And earlier this week, the actress announced her latest initiative towards mental health support – wellness pods.
Taraji’s foundation, the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, has partnered with Kate Spade New York to bring wellness pods to HBCU campuses. The actress’s foundation, which is named after her father who struggled with his mental health, was founded in 2018 to help destigmatize the notions around mental health while providing mental health services to Black communities.
The joint venture is set to roll out the She Care Wellness Pods, which are literal pod structures that will offer a variety of mental health resources for Black students. Among those resources include virtual and in-person therapy sessions, psychoeducation sessions as well as yoga, art, sound, and dance therapy workshops. The pods will also serve as well as a place for students to rest.
The She Care Wellness Pods will start popping up around the campus of Alabama State University first followed by other HBCUs across the country. Although the joint initiative is launching the pods for female-identifying people, He Care and They Care Wellness Pods are also set to roll out as part of the foundation’s Meeting You Where You Are initiative.
Taraji took to Instagram to share a snippet of an interview she did where she talked about the initiative and how important mental health advocacy is to her.
