Giving Compass' Take:

• No More Martyrs is an organization working to create support for black women with mental health issues who are far less likely than their white peers to seek help. 

• How can philanthropy effectively change the stigma around mental health problems? What resources do individuals need to address their mental health issues? 

• Find out why mental health needs to be a higher funding priority.


Tiffany Elliot has wrestled with death multiple times since she was a child. When she was 11, a siege of depressive thoughts led to her first suicide attempt. She learned about No More Martyrs, an organization focusing on the mental health of black women and their "sister support meetups" on Facebook. She became excited.

No More Martyrs is one of the few organizations focusing specifically on the mental health of black women. The group is currently working on a curriculum to advise therapists, counselors and psychologists on how to examine their own racial biases so they can understand and care for their black clients.

Since starting as a Facebook group and blog in 2014 in Birmingham, the organization has launched chapters in New Jersey and Washington, D.C. Members have expressed how domestic violence, unreported sexual assault, poverty, and discrimination affect the mental health of the black community during conferences in Atlanta, New York City, and Capitol Hill.

They've invited black, Latino, Native American, Asian and LGBTQ advocates from across the country to discuss the struggles they face during the organization's annual Minority Mental Health Summit every July.

Read the full article on No More Martyrs by Jonece Starr Dunigan at AL.