On the Tour with Humanity 360
Two DC natives spread mental wellness in Asbury Park and beyond
From the mayor to heads of churches and community organizations, Cedrica Mitchell and Shontice McKenzie have spent the past month meeting Asbury Park’s most influential leaders.
The DC natives are on a self-funded mission to spread mental wellness awareness in all 50 states, by way of a 2002 Chevy Trailblazer home.
McKenzie, a former elementary school principal said their Joy Tour journey began as a calling.
“I just felt like there was something bigger for me,” she said. “I had no idea what that meant but it was a feeling I had during the school year.”
The 32-year-old, who used mindful practices instead of medication to manage her childhood ADHD diagnosis, said she awoke one morning to detailed notes on her telephone.
“I don’t recall ever writing them, I literally woke up to notes on my phone,” she said. “That information was very pertinent; very detailed – a 50 state tour, suicide prevention, and it even mentioned to use HUMANITY 360, an organization that I founded in 2014.”
The nonprofit was earmarked as a tool to bring mindfulness practices into schools in order to replace detention and suspension, she said.
“Those rates were soaring at the time in the DC area,” she said. “Once I got on the principal track, I forgot about it. I was diving into my education so I didn’t do anything with it.”
McKenzie immediately quit the job she’d worked so hard to obtain. And while her friends and family questioned her action, Mitchell, her childhood friend, embraced the idea.
“I’m like, you are not crazy,” she said. “This is the problem, we are calling people crazy when they are talking about their feelings.”
Mitchell, 30, who was diagnosed with severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, said she went through trauma as a child, went to prison at a young age, and spent time on the streets.
“I didn’t really know how to transition back into society,” she said. “I was told a lot of nos when I was trying to find a job and apartments. I know how tough it can be for someone who doesn’t have a support system. Thankfully, I did have a support system but I still struggled with a lot of things my family didn’t know about.”
She quit her IT and hospitality jobs.
“It was perfect timing because I was jeopardizing my mental health by working jobs that were really a trigger,” Mitchell said.
The pair cashed in their savings and sold everything they owned to fund the mission trip aimed at spreading mindful practices and thwarting the stigma surrounding mental disorders.
“The bottom line is that people are really not knowledgeable about even having a mental health for themselves,” McKenzie said. “They associate the term mental health with depression and schizophrenia. I ask people, ‘do you have a physical health,’ then you have a mental health – that’s the basis we are starting with.
“This is years and years of oppression,” she explained. “We have been taught without being taught to not talk about these things; to be strong, to not feel our feelings, that is what we are used to. We are trying to dispel all of those myths, kick all those doors down and let people know it is okay and you can speak about how you feel openly and that you should not be chastised for that.”
Mitchell and McKenzie departed Washington, DC on September 4, 2018, expecting to return in March 2023. They have traveled to Richmond, Va, Winston-Salem and Columbia, NC, Atlanta, West Palm Beach and Jacksonville, Fla, Birmingham, Ala, Nashville, Louisville, Kt, Charleston, WV, and Dover, De, and will make Hawaii their last stop.
The youth and adult Mental Health First Aid trained duo begin in a city or area with the highest suicide rate and let their face to face connections lead the remainder of their month-long stays.
‘Finding somewhere to stay is the hardest part but we always find a place,” McKenzie said. “Just coming from my background of being evicted, or being without, or sleeping in shelters, I thought that it would be hard for me. It has its moments but I still see the positives and I’m so grateful for the blessings that come.”
Locally, the women credit Monmouth County Mental Health Association with helping connect them to needed resources, which included obtaining a free space to hold their Joy Jam – a mindful expo held Saturday at the Long Branch Library.
They will host a 5 to 6:30 pm Tuesday, July 23, Support Group at Oceans Family Success Center located 1201 Springwood Avenue in Asbury Park, and a 7:15 to 8:15 Yoga Flow at Root to Rise, located at 911 Main St in Belmar.
Once their tour wraps up in 2023, they hope to launch safe homes in each state that serve as rehabilitation centers with support groups.
“I know to people it looks like we are struggling and we don’t have what we need,’ McKenzie said of times when they have to scramble for somewhere to sleep or fund repairs for the Trailblazer. “Whatever we need will come. We are going to continue doing the work that we are doing.”
For more about Humanity 360 visit their website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube channel.
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