Black Youth Mentorship: Project Artemo and Opportunities for Proactive Cross-Sector Mental Wellness Support

Abstract

In this qualitative study, researchers interviewed 10 participants (five mentees and five mentors) of the 2020–2021 Artemo Black Youth Mentorship program session. The Artemo program takes place with Black youth across Alberta, with a focus in Edmonton, Calgary, and Fort McMurray. The program focuses on providing supports for a mental health preventative approach, employment/educational supports, and a gender intersectionality focus throughout Alberta. To assess the program, organizers hired an independent researcher to maintain anonymity. Findings from the interviews spoke to larger themes related to Black youth mental health and well-being, as well as community-based approaches to supporting them. Our findings offer three key themes. First, youth offered their own perceptions of mental wellness. Second, they explained stigma, a lack of cultural competency and representation among service providers, and financial costs, as significant barriers to mental health and wellness. Third they discussed opportunities for youth mentorship to fill service gaps and act as a form of resistance. Opportunities include strategies to navigate mental health stigma, opportunities to build trust, benefits of centralizing experiences of race and culture, and benefits of non-medicalized mental wellness support.