Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith Highsmith, Jr.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Keith. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I first acknowledged my desire to give back to my community and leave a legacy in community service in 2019… I always felt I had accomplished a lot professionally and was always happy to be in a very stable position financially, especially being in a city with an egregious cost of living. I’ve always tried to remind myself of the way to be successful is by replenishing the world around me with something that I got out of it.
For me, it was the stability I always craved and strived for in my young adult years. Being a spiritual person, I prayed and asked for a way that I could help absolve a community’s need and redistribute the stability I am so grateful to have found… I had a dream about owning a nonprofit. I woke up from this dream-inspired and instantly started doing research on how to start a nonprofit. The more research, the more inspired I was with ideas of what my nonprofit would be. Thus, Righteous Roots was born.
I felt that mental wellness is something somewhat taboo in the minority community and is just now becoming a more commonplace topic at work, socially and in our families; but resources and accessibility may be limited to some. In response, I decided to be a bridge for people to have access to a network of licensed mental health professionals at no cost and simultaneously educate the community.
Mental wellness is a major aspect to stability and I felt that in my own way, this is how I could impart stability in and demonstrate gratitude toward my community. I applied for and was awarded a grant, assembled a team, and worked tirelessly to bring my vision to fruition. We are currently on pace to be live, serving our community in early Spring of 2021.
Has it been a smooth road?
Consider: Having a full-time job and trying to build a new organization, it’s a lot on any person and with COVID-19, nothing was off-limits. Creativity, motivation and just general will power seemed to dwindle after spending so much time at home. Social media played on my mindset as well. If it wasn’t the people who were inspired with the copious amount of time being inside, it was the memes that implied that not working towards a goal during quarantine was wasting this opportunity. In comparison, I felt like I was failing somehow because I wasn’t working to my optimum compacity on something I knew was bringing me so much purpose. My saving grace was the realization that even if something is a passion, or perhaps even a life purpose, it doesn’t mean that exhaustion won’t occur. I’m human and am not always in the “builder’s mindset.” It is okay to take a break, and pace is everything! This revelation accompanied by understanding the waves motivation or creativity cycle in taught me how to coast through low-tide moments.
We’d love to hear more about your organization.
Righteous Roots Inc is a nonprofit organization geared towards the minority community. We facilitate access to mental wellness resources, enhance financial literacy, advance nutritional acumen, and promote scholarship opportunities—all in an effort to empower prosperity. We will offer access to a network of licensed mental health professionals and five complimentary sessions. Ideally, after the fifth session, our users will be able to continue to see that therapist at the same discounted rate offered to Righteous Roots for up to a year. We know selecting a mental health professional can be overwhelming or even daunting, that’s why we’ve created a simple, streamlined process embedded in the user profile on our site with a questionnaire designed to help pinpoint the key aspects of what a client is looking for regarding a mental health professional.
The results of that questionnaire will narrow down mental health professionals in our network that best meet the attributes from the selected responses. From there, clients can view the profiles of those professionals and even schedule the first appointment. Additionally, we offer collegiate scholarships that highlight minority talent by way of art – whether written, captured or created. Our site offers a variety of resources that raise awareness about better nutritional resources in and available to our community and financial literacy.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Because we endeavor to be the leading mental wellness, economic, nutrition, and scholarship information resource-provider to minority communities, over the next 5-10 years, I believe mental health will lose its “taboo” reputation in the minority community which in turn will give us a bigger platform to grow steadily and in tandem with the needs our community presents, pronounced and obscure.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4429 Hollywood Blvd|STE 813185
Hollywood, FL 33801 - Website: Righteousrootsinc.org
- Phone: 954•546•8894
- Email: contact@righteousrootsinc.org
- Instagram: RighteousRootsInc
- Facebook: Facebook.com/righteousrootsinc
Image Credit:
Anita P. Garbett, Photographer & Creative Services, Allsnap Media, LLC
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