Taraji P. Henson’s foundation to offer free therapy to members of the black community

On Wednesday, April 15, Taraji P. Henson announced that the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation will now offer five free therapy sessions to individuals in the black community. The foundation will provide the services strictly to members of the black community who have suffered in some way because of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, especially those who have had past trauma triggered by it or have experienced a life-changing event. The BLHF doesn’t want people to have to choose between a meal and their mental health.

As Henson explained: “In the African American community, we’ve been taught to tough it out, hide our suffering, but this is something none of us have ever experienced, and no one should suffer in silence.”

Henson has been a mental health advocate for some time because of her late father who struggled after his tour of duty in Vietnam. On April 3, she revealed to Buzzfeed that she understands this struggle personally as well. She noted that the halt to production for her TV show Empire last month and recent events have had a definite impact on her own mental health:

“Some days I wake up and it’s just like, I see the light at the end of the tunnel — and then some days I can’t see any light, but I just take one day at a time and I just try to keep myself busy, keep my mind busy.”

https://www.colorlines.com/articles/taraji-p-hensons-foundation-offers-free-virtual-therapy-underserved-communities
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/09/taraji-p-henson-creates-free-virtual-therapy-service-for-coronavirus-hit-african-americans
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/krystieyandoli/taraji-p-henson-empire-coronavirus-quarantine-struggle