{"id":294847,"date":"2026-07-13T21:03:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T21:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/294847\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T21:03:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T21:03:54","slug":"brooklyn-barbers-trained-to-stop-black-youth-suicide-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/294847\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Barbers Trained to Stop Black Youth Suicide Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Black youth are facing a muted mental health crisis<\/a> \u2014evidenced by CDC data revealing that suicide rates rose 53 percen<\/a>t over a decade. This staggering reality challenges the long-held myth that suicide is primarily a white epidemic, raising an urgent question: how do we reach young people before a crisis turns deadly?<\/p>\n

In Brooklyn, the answer isn\u2019t waiting in a therapist\u2019s office. It\u2019s happening where the hum of clippers and the scent of hair products meet open conversation.<\/p>\n

Through the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health\u2019s \u201cBeyond the Stigma\u201d program, local barbers and stylists are being trained as an unexpected frontline defense. Today, they complete an 8-hour Mental Health First Aid course that teaches them to recognize distress, listen without judgment, and guide young clients toward professional help.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our communities, we know the history of mistrust,\u201d Dr. Marilyn Fraser, CEO of the institute, told The Root. <\/p>\n

Named for tennis champion and health advocate Arthur Ashe, whose legacy extended beyond the court to advancing health equity, the\u00a0Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health<\/a>\u00a0in Brooklyn, has long worked through trusted community spaces to improve health outcomes. When it launched the Beyond the Stigma program to address youth mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, it built on that foundation by weaving mental health into its existing barber and beauty shop initiatives.<\/p>\n

The institute also recruits about 12 youth peer leaders each year, ages 15 to 21, for a six-week program that teaches mental health literacy, coping skills and how to recognize when friends may need professional help. Community elders are also engaged through programming in senior centers.<\/p>\n

\"\"Black barber talking to customer in retro barbershop<\/p>\n

Dr. Fraser has seen firsthand what opening lines of communication can do. That mistrust, combined with cultural beliefs that emotional struggles should be handled privately or viewed as weakness, often keeps people from seeking formal mental health care. Instead, Fraser believes support must begin in places where people already feel seen, heard and understood.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur studies show that sometimes people are waiting for that question to be asked,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The new\u00a0CDC data\u00a0speak to the urgency for these programs and track suicide rates between 2014 and 2024. \u201cIt\u2019s sad seeing those numbers,\u201d Fraser said. \u201cSo people often suffer in silence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: The Unthinkable Just Happened\u2014Mamdani\u2019s Rent Freeze Stuns the Nation<\/a><\/p>\n

One way the institute extends that work is through Paint and Heal workshops, where participants use art to process trauma, reduce stress and build community. The approach reflects Fraser\u2019s belief that mental health support should be culturally relevant and accessible\u2014not limited to traditional clinical settings.<\/p>\n

The institute measures success through participant assessments and community feedback, but Fraser said some of the strongest evidence comes from what participants tell them afterward.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor men, one of the things that has come out a lot is that they have not had this safe space to talk about mental health,\u201d she said, noting that many leave realizing \u201cit\u2019s okay to say that I need help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Funding remains the institute\u2019s biggest obstacle to expanding the program, but Fraser hopes to bring it into more schools and communities. If the model offers one lesson beyond Brooklyn, she said, it\u2019s that suicide prevention doesn\u2019t always begin in a therapist\u2019s office. Sometimes it begins with a conversation between people who already know and trust one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the conversation starts,\u201d she said, \u201cpeople will talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Beyond the Stigma yoga<\/p>\n

Straight From \"The<\/p>\n

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