Organizations have made generous donations toward mental health in recent years, but the challenges have only become more visible. Because these issues are complex and diverse, they require more than a lump-sum contribution.
This year, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation made a $25 million commitment to youth mental health in America, paired with a strategy that hopes to tackle this issue in new and innovative ways.
“Mental health has been used traditionally to say someone has a mental health challenge. But, like physical health, we all have mental health,” Elizabeth Brown, managing director of Mental Health and Well-being at AMBFF told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s on a continuum. Sometimes you’re in crisis and you need clinical support, or sometimes you’re doing OK.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
The $25 million grant builds onto a portfolio of more than $31 million the foundation has committed to youth mental health since 2022. Brown noted that less than 2% of all philanthropic funding is directed toward mental health, making Blank’s commitment especially significant, because it seeks to encourage greater generosity.
By dividing youth mental health into three developmental stages — infancy, childhood and adolescence — the new grant strategy recognizes that each phase of life presents distinct mental health needs and challenges.
In the first stage, AMBFF is focused on supporting the connection and well-being of infants and their caregivers. Infants visit health care providers more frequently in their early years than at almost any other point in life, creating a critical opportunity to support mental health early on.
“What if when moms were going to their baby’s doctor visits, and then continuing the first years of their life, every check-in would not just check in on those milestones of physical health, but also asking the mom and the caregivers about how they are doing with their mental health?” Brown suggested.
For its second pillar, the foundation is focusing on developing resilience and a sense of belonging among elementary and middle school students. To support resilience, funding is being directed toward mindfulness resources and peer-led programs.
“There’s nothing more powerful than actually having the students own the culture and to be looking out for each other to develop that sense of belonging,” Brown said.
The foundation’s third pillar, which focuses on fostering healthier relationships with digital technology, addresses an area where many teenagers’ mental health challenges are known to emerge.
“We just acknowledge that technology is here to stay,” Brown explained. “So we’re not moving forward with the goal to get kids off the phone completely, although that is one tool.”
Instead of urging young people to completely disconnect from screens, AMBFF is directing resources toward mitigation efforts, which include reduced phone use and understanding the algorithms they encounter each day.
“What we want to do is to support programs that mitigate the harm of being on social media, and now AI,” she added.
National nonprofits, including Sandy Hook Promise, Common Sense Media, the Ad Council, alongside many others, will receive millions from the Blank Foundation to help them further their goals.
“Our strategy is ambitious and hopeful, focused on prevention,” Brown said in a news release. “We’re pleased to invest in solutions that support the vision that every baby born today will have a stronger path toward flourishing mental well-being than any generation that came before.”
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