What is CARE More?
CARE more is a non-profit community initiative created by CARE Counseling for the purpose of creating systemic change within the mental health community. CARE’s owners, John Hutchinson and Dr. Andrea Hutchinson, created CARE with the mission statement of: build a community to strengthen the community. Despite the needs, only one in three Black or African American adults who need mental health care receive it. There are reasons that members of the BIPOC community avoid seeking therapy. Reluctance to enlist the aid of a mental health professional can include a lack of representation. In Minnesota, 95% of mental health professionals are white; just over 2% are Black. Nationally it isn’t much better sitting at 4%. With the goal of continuing to strengthen the mental health community through CARE more, the Hutchinson Family Endowment is donating $50,000 to the University of St. Thomas to fund the cost of books for BIPOC students pursuing masters and doctoral programs in the Psychology Department. Through the CARE more initiative, more BIPOC students will succeed in Psychology programs and pursue careers in therapy, which will encourage more people of color to find help from clinicians who can truly understand their racial struggles.