Sponsorship Opportunities
The amazing portfolio of programming associated with Rite of Joy provides a variety of ways for interested organizations and individuals to show their support.
Sponsor the Rite of Joy Conference
A highly engaged audience of professional researchers and practitioners join peers to support mental wellness in the Black/African American community. Sponsors add their name to the efforts of this impactful programming.
Sponsor the JoyUs Gala
The JoyUs Gala is the culmination of the Rite of Joy conference and a headlining event of its own. Sponsors of the gala connect with Poetry for Personal Power’s highest profile headline event.
One-Time Gift
Unable to attend the events, or just interested in making a direct impact without the perks? Make a one-time gift of any amount and support the mission of Poetry for Personal Power and its programming.
An invitation from our Executive Director to sponsor Rite of Joy
Hello Friends,
I am inviting you to sponsor and even attend the second annual Rite of Joy Conference. We are thrilled to host the only Black/African American centric peer-run mental wellness and arts conference in the nation, but we need your help to make it happen!
The Black/African American community is in a mental health crisis. According to SAMHSA’s 2018 survey on Mental Health:
- Sixteen percent (4.8 million) of Black and African American people reported having a mental illness, and 22.4 percent of those (1.1 million people) reported a serious mental illness over the past year.
- Serious mental illness (SMI) rose among all ages of Black and African American people between 2008 and 2018.
- Despite rates being less than the overall U.S. population, major depressive episodes increased from 9 percent-10.3 percent in Black and African American youth ages 12-17, 6.1 percent to 9.4 percent in young adults 18-25, and 5.7 percent to 6.3 percent in the 26-49 age range between 2015 and 2018.
Some of the things that perpetuate these issues are:
- Lack of culturally competent providers from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds
- Stigma associated with mental illness
- Distrust of the healthcare system
- Lack of providers from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds
In the words of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, “Nobody’s free, till everybody’s free.” Although Rite of Joy’s focus is serving Black/African Americans, learning how to address this crisis in an impactful way is a mandate for everyone.
The long-term goal of this conference is a sustainable systemic change creating culturally competent care and providers who understand multiple modalities to wellness for our communities, however we cannot reach this goal without you. Sponsoring this conference is one easy step your organization can take to help decrease disparities in access to mental health care for the Black Community.
Sincerely,
Sheri Hall
Executive Director
Poetry for Personal Power
director@poetryforpoetryforpersonalpower.org