“In every adult man, there’s a broken boy that needs to be healed,” said Jonathan Muhammad during Men’s Mentalhood’s recent panel on Black men’s mental health at PCC Austin Family Health Center.
On Saturday, May 2, Men’s Mentalhood partnered with PCC Community Wellness Center to host a community panel and breakfast focused on mental health awareness for Black men and boys on Chicago’s West Side.
Held at PCC Austin Family Health Center, 5461 W. Lake St., the event created space for open conversations regarding trauma, addiction, emotional wellness and healing within the Black community.
Founder Victor Love said Men’s Mentalhood was created to address the stigma surrounding therapy and emotional vulnerability among Black men.
“We have suffered through so much and swept so much under the carpet,” said Love. “As a result, that’s how we act out.”
Love encouraged attendees to get a “checkup from the neck up,” a phrase used throughout the event to promote mental wellness, self-awareness and emotional honesty.
Community members also shared personal testimonies about how Men’s Mentalhood has impacted their lives and created an environment where they feel safe discussing issues often left unspoken.
“I’m not where I was, and I’m not where I want to be, but I’m in a much better and more empowered mental space,” Muhammad said.
PCC Community Wellness Center leadership used the event to connect residents with available healthcare and behavioral health resources.
“Mental health in general is something that we’re really passionate about here at PCC,” said Alyssa Sianghio, CEO of PCC Community Wellness Center. “We are here in the community so people have accessible and affordable healthcare centered around you.”
Sianghio said PCC operates 14 sites across Chicago’s West Side and neighboring communities, offering primary care, therapy, dentistry, food programs and substance use recovery services. The Austin Family Health Center location opened in late 2024.
“It doesn’t matter what insurance you’ve got or no insurance at all,” Sianghio said. “It doesn’t matter what your background is or what history you’ve got — we’re going to be here.”
Lisa Gutierrez, PCC’s behavioral health director, said mental health remains heavily stigmatized in many communities, but PCC hopes to make services more visible and accessible.
“Mental health is just like physical health,” Gutierrez said. “We want to take care of our minds and make sure we’re doing okay mentally and emotionally.”
The event also connected attendees with professionals working directly in youth development and behavioral health. In a separate conversation following the panel, Dr. William Steward III, acting superintendent of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, reflected on the importance of mental wellness among incarcerated youth.
“Mental health starts in your mind,” Steward said. “I have 160 kids locked up in our facility, and mental health means helping them see they are more than their past and more than their mistakes.”
The collaboration between Men’s Mentalhood and PCC Community Wellness Center highlights a growing effort on Chicago’s West Side to address mental health through community conversation, accessible care and culturally relevant support for Black men and boys.