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Health Justice Coalition Executive Committee L ast Tuesday, March 17, 2026, the Health Justice Coalition  (HJC) held its Executive Committee elections and confirmed a powerful team of community-rooted leaders. The Health Justice Coalition Executive Committee reflects our belief that real health justice requires shared leadership across sectors and lived experiences. The newly elected Executive Committee includes: Co-Chair: Melissa Roberts, Friends Against Fentanyl Element Co-Chair: Sheryl Huff, National Action Network of Middle Tennessee Treasurer: Jerry L. Ivery Jr., Esq., Mashup Secretary: Esarrah Hopkins, Black Mental Health Village  and Nashville Chapter of Sisters in Public Health Programming: Dominick Holland, Nashville Bail Fund  Membership: Joseph Bazelais, Ether Co-op At Large: Benaias Esayeas, Black Mental Health Village At Large & Coalition Manager: Chanda Freeman, Black Mental Health Village Each person brings a unique set of skills, relationships, and lived experiences that strengthen our coalition. Together, they represent communities working across the social determinants of health, including mental health, housing, public safety, economic justice, and more. As this new Executive Committee steps into its role, Black Mental Health Village will continue to serve as the backbone organization for the Health Justice Coalition. We are honored to support this leadership team as they guide our shared work in Tennessee and the MidSouth where the communities most impacted by harm are also the ones shaping solutions.

Heal the Block Party 2026 Tomorrow evening, one of Nashville's most beloved community healing spaces is throwing a party and we want to make sure you are there. Brooklyn Heights Community Garden is hosting their annual Heal the Block Party 2026 , a spring fundraiser that is as much a celebration as it is a community call to action.​ Event Details: Date: Friday, March 20, 2026 Time: 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Location: Brooklyn Heights Community Garden, 1833 Haynes St, Nashville, TN 37207 Cost: Free to attend. Suggested donation of $15 to $35 per adult to support the garden's programs. Here is what you can expect when you show up:​ Live music and a DJ experience by The Dancing People Mini tea-making sessions led by Healed People Heal A community limpia, a traditional Mexican energy cleansing ceremony, offered by local healer Victoria VL An art experience by Turnip Green Creative Reuse Fresh produce, an auction, wellness workshops, and healing spaces This is more than a party. All proceeds go directly toward Brooklyn Heights Community Garden's ongoing projects, which provide a safe and inclusive space for wellness, food access, and community connection in North Nashville.​ Black Mental Health Village and the Health Justice Coalition recognize green spaces, gardens, and community-owned land as core parts of health justice. When Black and low-income communities have access to land, food, healing, and joy, we are directly addressing the root conditions that shape health outcomes. Brooklyn Heights Community Garden has raised $2,945 toward their $10,000 goal so far. Come through tomorrow, bring your neighbors, and support a garden that is truly healing the block.​

Stop telling me you care about older adults or Black history when your budget says otherwise. Whenever I'm searching for resources for our elders, I find websites that read, “We center ‘successful aging’ and ‘aging in place,’” but most places will not put a budget behind their wellness, safety, or joy. This year marks 100 years of Black History Month observances, born from Carter G. Woodson’s vision that Black people must remake our past in order to make our future. A century later, organizations flood timelines with “we honor our ancestors” graphics and polished posts about resilience and legacy. Yet we are consistently neglecting the people who are living Black history in real time, Black elders who have survived segregation, displacement, medical racism, and policy violence, and are now told there is nothing left for them but a brochure, a flyer, and a waitlist. Too many Black elders live with untreated depression, anxiety, and race related stress that our systems continually ignore. A for profit primary care practice serving older adults in a predominantly Black neighborhood reached out to me for a meeting about elder mental health. They told me, without flinching, that about 70 percent of their older adults had unmet mental health needs, mirroring what we know about high levels of psychological distress and unmet care among Black adults. In the next sentence, they asked me to bring five therapists for three hours, for free, with a budget of zero dollars. No stipend, no honorarium, no transportation, no consultation fee. Just vibes and charity. That is not care. That is extraction. That is “we need you to fix this data point for our population, but we will not adjust our financial priorities to make sure our elders actually receive dignified, sustained care.” You cannot claim to care about older adults when the line item for their mental health is 0 dollars. To all the folks cranking out performative Black History Month posts, do you even care about older adults, about our living Black history, the grandmothers raising third generations, the elders holding the stories, the ones whose bodies carry the receipts of every policy we pretend is “in the past”? Because your budgets, your staffing plans, your investment in accessibility, your program designs, and your “partnerships” tell the truth your captions will not, you do not. Nana’s Circle is a community based nonprofit that supports and empowers elder caregivers, especially grandparents and other relatives age 55+ who are raising children under 18. We now have more than 42 older adults raising more than 100 kids between them. Just like Carter G. Woodson’s vision, we must invest in our past in order to build a strong future. ​