Metro Juneteenth Event Hopes To Fight Mental Health Stigmas In NE Oklahoma City

Northeast OKC is hosting several Juneteenth events commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

A metro mental health service center is joining in the celebrations this weekend. For them, it's not only about celebrating freedom, but also reaching out to those who may be struggling.

The Lottie House is celebrating Juneteenth, a triumphant day for slaves who were told they were free, but Walter Cooper also sees it as a long time coming.

“Juneteenth means, to me, a celebration of independence. A little late but it arrived,” Cooper said.

Cooper said this Juneteenth is a celebration of the past and a reminder of where he comes from. It also shows much work still needs to be done in the Black community specifically around mental health.

“All I've heard all my life is that most people like me don't go psychiatrist and that there's nothing wrong,” Cooper said.

“Predominately in the black community there's more of a stigma and so the more we talk about mental health the less ominous it seems to all of us. So, we want to get the word out that it's okay to talk about your mental health,” Kelly Dyer Fry with Mental Health Association Oklahoma said.

The Lottie House is in the heart of Northeast OKC, Oklahoma City's historic Black neighborhood. They offer peer-run services to people experiencing homelessness and mental health illnesses.

Michael Martin is a veteran. He said he's been coming to the Lottie House for about a year.

“When you have post-traumatic stress and other things you don't want to be getting out in public and do things but having this breaks the ice,” Martin said.

“It's an ice breaker, really. It's always a good thing when someone can have a spot to get out of the weather, out of the heat, out of the cold, have something hot to drink or something to eat,” Cooper said.