\u201cUplifting The Pain\u2026Now Barbershop Initiative,\u201d<\/a> an effort to place resources in barbershops across Jacksonville to help spark conversations about mental health and emotional wellness.<\/p>\n‘Uplifting the Pain’ is being brought to Jacksonville barber shops to promote mental health conversations. (News4JAX)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe uncover the challenge\u2026 once we understand we can uplift you and get you the help,\u201d Carter-Cade said.<\/p>\n
Carter-Cade said she chose barbershops because they\u2019re trusted community spaces where men and boys already talk \u2014 often about topics they might not bring up elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Barbers at Urban Elite said those conversations are part of the job, whether they expected it or not.<\/p>\n
Urban Elite Barbershop barbers cutting hair. (News4JAX)<\/p>\n
School the Barber described the barbershop as a place where people feel comfortable sharing what\u2019s on their mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t compare it to a Catholic church but it\u2019s the same concept,\u201d he said. \u201cYou come pour out your feelings or you talk to somebody in confidence or you just know somebody\u2019s going to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kevin Cornelius has been a barber for 15 years. He said he never expected to connect with so many people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I was just going to be quiet to cut hair and make my money,\u201d he said. \u201cBut you find yourself really talking with the person and getting to know them and doing a lot of counseling. That\u2019s the big part about it. Feeling like you\u2019re a therapist most of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter-Cade said the she is working with shops to place her book where visitors can access it. She said book\u2019s poetry format can help people start a conversation when they\u2019re not sure how to say what they\u2019re feeling.<\/p>\n
Urban Elite Barbershop (News4JAX)<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause for some strange reason we feel that that\u2019s taboo and that we shouldn\u2019t talk about it,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we have to build that awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barbers told News4JAX that even small moments \u2014 a laugh, a check-in, a chance to be heard \u2014 can change how someone walks out the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou may not even know that you actually help somebody,\u201d Champion the Barber said. \u201cYou may not know because some people don\u2019t like to just open up and say stuff. But if there\u2019s a conversation in the air, they may be going through something unbeknownst to everybody else and you may get the advice that you\u2019ve been looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter-Cade said her hope is that the initiative keeps the conversation going \u2014 not just during June, but year-round \u2014 in places where people already gather and talk.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 At Urban Elite Barber Shop, the sound of clippers, music and conversation fills the room.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4524,116,118,117,24743],"class_list":["post-312563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-barber-shop","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-mental-health-awareness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}