Highlights: Young, Gifted & Well at Harvard University
More highlights to come including video clips!
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April 2019 is National Minority Health Month
Download the Equity in Mental Health Framework — now with Toolkit
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Young, Gifted & Well at Harvard University
Follow the discussion online — #YoungGiftedWell2019 & #SteveFundHarvard
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3 Tips to Overcome Anxiety & Spring Forward
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Be brave. —Lao Tzu
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Fight for Mental Health
The Steve Fund, in partnership with the Public Good Projects (PGP), supports environments that help communities to experience health and well-being, including mental health.
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Equity in Mental Health Framework Toolkit
Now available—additional resources, tips, and support in implementing the recommendations outlined in the EMH Framework.
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About the Steve Fund

The Steve Fund is dedicated to the mental health and emotional well-being of students of color.

Right at this moment, there are students of color who are failing academically, suffering emotionally and/OR in some cases are facing serious risk, because population-specific factors influencing mental health are too poorly understood and not acted upon. We are taking action. Learn more.

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Latest Steve Fund Updates:

Equity in Mental Health

The Steve Fund and The Jed Foundation have partnered to create the Equity in Mental Health Framework with ten expert recommendations for America’s colleges and universities to better support the mental health and emotional well-being of students of color. Read news release.
New! — Download Toolkit

Text STEVE to 741741

Are you a young person of color? Feeling down, stressed or overwhelmed? Text STEVE to 741741 and a live, trained Crisis Counselor will receive the text and respond to you quickly to provide support. The volunteer Crisis Counselor will help you move from a hot moment to a cool moment.
Share this resource and learn more.

The Knowledge Center

The new Steve Fund Knowledge Center is a resource for expert information about the mental health and emotional well-being of students of color. It contains videos of presentations, panels and interviews with experts, white papers, Webinars and more.
Visit The Knowledge Center

Self-Care Blog Series by our Executive Director

The Steve Fund in the media:

"Building knowledge and capacity among organizations serving young people of color is a critical element of the Steve Fund’s mission. Therefore, we offer an array of programs and services based on the framework and designed to assist colleges and universities and nonprofits in improving their mental health and emotional well-being support for students of color."
Programs & Services

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What Steve Fund partners say:

SEO Scholars excited to partner
“Given our mission of enabling young people from underserved and underrepresented communities to maximize their opportunities for college and career success, SEO Scholars is excited to partner with The Steve Fund on providing critical educational content related to the mental health and emotional well-being of our College Scholars. SEO Scholars is a free eight-year academic program that gets low-income public high school students to and through college with a 95% college completion rate.”
William A. Goodloe, President & CEOSponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO)
We look forward to our work with the Steve Fund
“As an organization focused on equipping high achieving men and women of color with the skills, coaching and connections they need to lead organizations and communities worldwide, we look forward to our work with the Steve Fund as we add best practices in mental health and emotional well-being to our programs’ curricula. It’s an important addition that will help maximize our impact on the lives of the young diverse people we serve.” John Rice, CEO, Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT)
John Rice, CEOManagement Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT)
The NAACP is grateful to the Steve Fund
“The NAACP is grateful to the Steve Fund for introducing critical mental health knowledge and best practices through presentations in front of thousands of young people at the NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO). We consider this a critical addition to this leading achievement program targeted at African American high school students.” Larry Brown, Jr., ACT-SO National Director
Larry Brown, Jr., National DirectorACT-SO

A Letter From Steve's Family

In 2014, we began a journey, one which no family should ever have to take. It began with the loss of Steve, our beloved son, family member and friend. After graduating from Harvard College and completing a Masters degree at City University, mental illness took Steve from us. We have established the Steve Fund with the aim of preventing other families having to take a journey like ours.

Our nation is not meeting the mental health needs of young people of color. While research shows that the differences in ethnic backgrounds of students necessitate culturally sensitive approaches to supporting their mental health, their needs are still significantly understudied, and insufficiently understood. With minorities forming the majority of Americans by 2044, and the majority of children by 2020, the future success of our nation will depend on the mental health and emotional well-being of these young people.

Read the full letter

Stephen “Steve” C. Rose