Silence the Shame marks 10 years amid funding struggles

An Atlanta nonprofit that provides mental health awareness and support marked 10 years of impact Tuesday.

Silence the Shame, founded by Atlanta native Shanti Das, has reached more than 144,000 people nationwide, but like other nonprofits, budget constraints have started making it difficult to keep programs funded.

Das said she founded the organization after her father and best friend died by suicide.

“I was doing a radio interview literally with one of our local personalities, Ryan Cameron, and I said, I don’t know why people are ashamed to talk about mental health. You know, we just need to silence the shame, and it was literally born in an interview,” Das said.

Jewell Gooding, executive director of the nonprofit, said she has faced her own struggles with mental health.

“It gives me a sense of purpose, a mission to continue to forge forward,” Gooding said. “I myself am a person with lived experience. I struggle with depression and anxiety, and I’m also a parent of a child who has a mental illness, and we work together to create a space so that we don’t have to feel the shame.”

Das said the nonprofit lost nearly half its funding last month due to grant cuts.

“It was like a gut wrench, and it was very humbling, and I had to literally get on the phone along with my team and just started asking for support, trying to find emergency funding,” she said.

People can support the organization by donating online or attending a fundraising event. The Creatives of Color closing party is happening this Saturday at the Fox Marquee Club, and a portion of the proceeds will go to Silence the Shame.

“This lack of funding is not going to stop us with our megaphones. We’re going to continue to get out there and fight,” Das said.