Today we’d like to introduce you to Camillia Harris.
Hi Camillia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am a mental health advocate. In 2019, I tragically lost my father to a completed murder-suicide. July 21, 2019 has been one of the hardest and most debilitating days of my life. In the wake of losing my father to suicide, I found myself on a journey filled with grief, confusion, and an unrelenting determination to ensure no other black men suffer the same fate. This experience led me to establish the justUs MH Foundation, a platform dedicated to fostering mental health awareness and providing support to black men.
I originally founded justUS to be a mental health app that would be designed to assist our healthcare community and providers in building a private way to communicate emotions without speaking. A user would provide feedback via an emoji. However, after much prayer and hearing God speak to me, I heard “Gather”. I decided that we needed to create a platform where men can feel safe and exchange dialogue, but the world needed to hear it. The world needs to hear from them and not someone else telling their story. This pushed me into creating the Black Men’s Mental Health Conference and what better place for the plane to take off from then Dayton, Ohio; where I am born and raised and where my father resided. We hosted our inaugural conference in Dayton, Ohio on April 15th, 2023 and we are going state-to-state, city-to-city, and backyard-to-backyard if we have to. Our goal is to diminish the stigmatism surrounding mental health and reigniting trust, honesty, and privacy surrounding seeking help.
With the aim of ending the stigma surrounding mental health, our foundation has made significant strides in organizing conferences that bring together individuals from various walks of life to discuss, learn, and heal. My mission is to save not one but many fathers, brothers, sons, etc., and I hope to eradicate suicide. The goal of the conferences is to build on mental health resources and help reach those in mental turmoil. I will wake up daily with the desire to work to ensure individuals receive quality mental health care and to break down the stigma associated with mental illness. I am passionate about helping others find hope and resilience in their reason to live. I forgot to ask my daddy, “Are you ok?”, but I will never forget to ask men that going forward.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Believe it or not, it hasn’t been difficult. My biggest struggle is funding and I am hoping to gain more sponsorship and donations so that going into the next state or city is effortless.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have 21 years in Healthcare IT, and I have worked and consulted with corporations such as Georgia Medicaid, CDC, Ernst & Young, etc.
My passion is all things healthcare and communications. I have a Master’s in Communication, and I believe the world can’t exist without it. I am proud to be the daughter of an amazing and fearless queen and an amazing King. I draw my strength first from God but secondly from my mother.
What sets me apart from others is that I am uniquely made. My name is Camillia Harris. God made me specifically for my own intentional journey and I am not apologetic for going after it. I am fearless. I believe that whatever I decide to do, the only thing that is stopping me, is the false narrated voice that may seep in to distract me. I was designed to be great, and I use my 24 hours that we all are given, WISELY. I recently had an amazing king that I look up to as a spiritual father tell me, “God prepared this assignment specifically for you because he knew you would be obedient”.
I am obedient, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my faith.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I left corporate on my birthday 9/6/2022 and decided to allow GOD to lead me through the doors that he saw fit. I was institutionalized by a paycheck and so this step was a huge risk.
For me, taking risks would propel me into windows and doors of new opportunities. The moment I stepped away from corporate God birthed justUS MH Foundation in a way that is so unimaginable. I am now walking and living in my passion and purpose that was birthed from my pain.
Pricing:
- Keynote Presentation: $1,500 – $3,000
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bmmhc.com
- Instagram: @bmmhc1, @camillia_milly
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillia-harris-apc-ma-10a30213/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBuTBzKyxEktjdP5IKMUB4A
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3W6M5Gu4sk
