Education
Empower by Example Episode 4 - Julius Boatwright, Steel Smiling https://www.steelsmilingpgh.org Show Notes Get ready to go DEEP in this episode. Empaths, I am talking to you. Julius Boatwright is the CEO of Steel Smiling, an organization that bridges the gap between community members and mental health support through education, advocacy and awareness. Beams to Bridges is Steel Smiling’s flagship program that launched in September 2019 that empowers black community members in the Hilltop neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, PA to become mental health champions. The demand that they had for the program far exceeded their expectations. In this episode we discuss spirituality, relationships, the emotional state of mental health advocates and how Julius began doing this important work. He tells us about his challenges regarding separating the work from his mental and physical self. We speak about difficulties and gaps in non-profit programs from funding to capacity building to the lack of quality time to work with clients. He shares his own struggles with depression and anxiety and one very tragic reason that he was called to this mission. Julius shares his raw, authentic take on how he works to live outside of a victim mentality and what it means to be a “savior” and a “founder”. What does it look like to remove ego from your work, and what can we activate in others by letting go of total control and ownership? We discuss how you can’t evaluate and measure all that a non-profit has to offer, and we lament the current systems Check out Julius’ advocacy for mental health in the black community here: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2019/07/08/Julius-Boatwright-The-traditional-mental-health-system-is-failing-the-black-community/stories/201907080004 You can also find him on IG: https://www.instagram.com/julboatwright/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/SteelSmilingPGH/ Personal FB: https://www.facebook.com/julius.a.boatwright Twitter: https://twitter.com/julboatwright Music by Buscrates (https://www.instagram.com/buscrates/?hl=de)