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CULTIVATE · A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER
Hello Reader,
Let's talk about freedom.
Not just the kind we celebrate in July. The kind that comes when you finally have a name for what your body has been trying to tell you. The kind that comes when a doctor actually listens. The kind that comes when you stop suffering in silence because you thought no one would believe you.
This issue, we are going deep on three health realities that shape the lives of Black and Brown women every single day: minority mental health and staying safe in the heat when you are already managing a chronic condition. These are not rare conditions. They are not edge cases. They are happening in our families, our friend groups, and our own bodies, often without the care, research, or resources they deserve.
July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. It is also a month to shine light on the very real danger that extreme heat poses for women of color living with chronic illness.
You deserve to know this information. You deserve care that takes you seriously. And you deserve to step into the second half of this year feeling informed, supported, and free.
Let's get into it.
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TEND TO YOUR MENTAL HEALTH
Tending to your mental health is not a luxury. It is a necessity. And for women of color, it is also an act of resistance.
July is Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, named after the author and advocate who refused to let our communities suffer in silence.
Here is what the data tells us: as of 2024, among adults living with a mental illness, Hispanic (44%), Black (39%), and Asian (33%) adults were all less likely than White adults (58%) to receive mental health services. And when we look specifically at women, White women are almost twice as likely to seek mental health care as Asian, Black, and Hispanic women. That is not a gap in need. That is a gap in access. The system was not built with us in mind, and women of color are paying for that with their mental health every single day. KFFPsychiatry Times
Mental illness among people of color may be underdiagnosed due to a lack of culturally sensitive screening tools, combined with structural barriers to care. In other words, the tools used to identify who needs help were not designed to see us clearly. KFF
You cannot pour from an empty vessel. Tending to yourself is how you tend to everyone else. This month, give yourself permission to be tended to.
Coming in July: HUES is launching an educational campaign around minority mental health. Stay tuned for details.
Want access to free counseling? Daughters of Both Suns provides pro bono or free therapy and referrals to Black and Latina women. The Loveland Foundation provides funding for therapy for Black women and girls.
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BASK IN THE SUN with CAUTION
Nothing grows well under conditions that were never designed for it. And this summer, that is not just a metaphor.
Heat is the deadliest form of extreme weather in the United States, killing more Americans each year than hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods combined. And right here in Dayton, the danger is real. The City of Dayton has already opened cooling centers this summer in response to heat index values reaching up to 100 degrees.
But here is what the headlines often miss: extreme heat does not hit everyone the same way. For women of color living with chronic conditions, the risk is compounded in ways that rarely get talked about.
People with hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity face a significantly higher risk of heat-related illness, including heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke, during prolonged heat events. Heat interferes with the body's ability to regulate its own temperature, and chronic conditions make that harder. Research shows that patients with hypertension are at higher risk of heat-related illness and hospitalization, and a meta-analysis found a 15% increase in cardiovascular disease mortality linked to the effects of heat waves.
This matters deeply for our communities. Black adults experience earlier onset and disproportionately higher rates of hypertension-related complications in the United States, and lupus is the sixth leading cause of death for Black and Hispanic women aged 25 to 34. These are not abstract statistics. These are our mothers, our sisters, our neighbors.
Energy insecurity, which is the inability to afford electric bills, places a significant share of low-income populations at risk, even in air-conditioned homes. Having an air conditioner is not enough if you cannot afford to run it.
What you can do right now:
+ Stay indoors between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on high heat days
+ Drink water consistently, even if you do not feel thirsty
+ Check on elderly neighbors and family members daily
+ Know where your nearest cooling center is before you need it
Local Resource: Dayton Cooling Centers
The City of Dayton has three recreation centers available as cooling sites, including the Greater Dayton Recreation Center at 2021 West Third Street. Call 211 or check local news for current hours and locations during heat events.
You deserve to bask in this summer safely, in a body that is cared for and protected.
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GROW IN COMMUNITY
Community Partner Spotlight
Spectrum New Beginnings is a Dayton-based nonprofit dedicated to renewing minds and transforming lives through accessible, holistic wellness programs and self-care practices.
Located in Northwest Dayton, they are cultivating holistic wellness and self-care specifically for Black individuals and families in a community long impacted by health disparities, offering healing circles, social-emotional learning, and trauma-informed care that reflects the lived experiences of the people they serve.
Their programming integrates evidence-based practices including mindfulness, massage therapy, restorative circles, self-care labs, creative arts, and sound therapy to address stress, trauma, and overall well-being. They bring these services directly into the spaces where people already live, learn, and heal.
Connect with Spectrum New Beginnings:
Website: spectrumnewbeginnings.org
Phone: (937) 234-7820
Email: contact@spectrumnewbeginnings.org
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SOW INTO THE NEXT GENERATION
Every garden starts with a seed. This summer, HUES is sowing seeds of health knowledge, advocacy, and power in the next generation.
The HUES Summer Youth Health Justice Ambassador Program is an 8-week Saturday series built for young people in the Dayton area who are ready to learn, lead, and speak up for their communities. Each session covers a different health topic, from mental wellness to reproductive health to understanding the systems that shape who gets care and who does not.
These young people are not just learning about health. They are becoming the advocates their communities have always needed.
The seeds we plant today grow into the leaders of tomorrow
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ROOTED IN FREEDOM
Science has long known what our grandmothers already understood. Music heals. Research shows that music activates the same reward pathways in the brain as food and human connection, reduces cortisol, which is the hormone your body releases under stress, and can lower blood pressure, ease anxiety, and lift mood. For women of color who carry the weight of navigating systems that were never built for us, music is not just entertainment. It is medicine.
This playlist was built specifically for you. Twenty songs. One hour and four minutes. Artists who look like us, sound like us, and speak directly to the parts of us that are still becoming.
Put it on while you walk. While you cook. While you sit in your car before you go inside, breathe. Let it do what it is designed to do.
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HUES exists because your health, your story, and your life matter. We are not here to overwhelm you with what is broken. We are here to stand with you as we build something better, together. |
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