Health Female: A Message From Verywell Health

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

A Message From Verywell Health

June 3, 2020

Across the Verywell brands, our goal is always to help you feel better. But right now, our hearts are heavy and we're struggling to know how to do that. We mourn the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and too many before them.

The coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately affected Black people, and wearing masks to protect their health and the health of others has made many feel especially vulnerable to racial profiling.

Everyone has the right to protest and speak out for what's right and just, even in a time of a pandemic. Please, be as safe as you can while protesting in crowds. The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene made suggestions, including:

Wear a face covering
Wear eye protection
Use hand sanitizer

We don't have all the answers, but Verywell is committed to standing in solidarity, and speaking out against oppression, systemic racism, and hate. We have a responsibility to provide you with credible, thoughtful resources to help you navigate these topics and to spread messages of inclusivity, equality, and human rights.

We promise to listen, learn, and help you care for your physical and mental health—with the hope that together, we can create an anti-racist world where everyone has the access, rights, and power to feel their best.

For now, we encourage you to be kind—to yourself and to others—and channel some of this despair into positive, productive, and sustained action.

You've likely seen a lot of donation lists, so we're sharing a few health-centric organizations for your consideration:

	-	GirlTrek encourages African-American women and girls to focus on physical and mental health through the daily habit of walking.

	-	Black Women's Health Initiative, formed in 1983, is the only national health organization dedicated solely to the health and wellness of Black women and girls in the U.S.

	-	National Black Men's Health Network has provided health education to Black men, boys, and their families since 1987.

	-	The Okra Project is a grassroots initiative addressing the COVID-19 crisis' effect on Black Trans people by bringing home-cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources. To honor Trans people who've been killed by police brutality, they've created the Tony McDade Mental Health Recovery Fund to pay for one-time mental health therapy sessions with licensed Black therapists.

	-	The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation focuses on erasing the stigma around mental health issues in the African-American community.

We are listening, and we are learning. We will do better. Black lives matter.

Sincerely,
Rob, Nicole, Anisa, Natalie, and Ben (The Verywell Health Editorial Team)