In 2024, Homeless Children’s Network (HCN) engaged Indigo Cultural Center to conduct an external evaluation of the HCN’s Dream Keeper Initiative (DKI) Community Mental Health Program. The Dream Keeper Initiative supports HCN’s transformative work for Black communities in San Francisco. HCN’s DKI Community Health Mental Health Program is grounded in an understanding that Black community mental health has been and continues to be impacted by historical systemic racism and oppression in the U.S., and an acknowledgement that mainstream therapeutic approaches have failed to take account of the harms done to the descendants of enslaved Africans. For Black people in this country and around the world, community and interconnectedness ubuntu – is and always has been a vital part of our existence and healing. HCN’s DKI Community Mental Health Program strives to reject mainstream approaches to mental health by harnessing the potential of healing that can take place when community is integrated into healing approaches.
There are three (3) main components to the way HCN has conceptualized the HCN DKI Community Mental Health Program: 1) Community Mental Health and Wellness; 2) Black LGBTQIA+ Mental Health; and 3) Black Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation & Training Support. The latter two populations are often overlooked and under-served when it comes to mental health in the Black community.
The reports highlight each program's methodology, key findings, and spotlight our impact through the voices of program participants and our HCN team. Graphics and graphic representations of each program's essence and impact were done by Rio Holaday.
Learn more about Homeless Children's Network at: hcnkids.org/impact
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