Eleka Howard, daughter of the late Shirley Howard, will be working with various organizations on Juneteenth to hold conversations about grief in the community.
MIDLAND, Texas — When thinking about Juneteenth, talking about mental health probably isn’t one of the first things that comes to anyone’s mind.
But some in the community believe a day like Juneteenth might make it easier for some people to talk about the issue.
“A day like Juneteenth is important to us because when we look back at our history, a lot of times people are stuck in the past and stuck in thoughts of slavery. So this is important for the community, not just for Black people or African-American people, but for everyone because everyone is dealing with something that affects them spiritually,” said Annakatrina Kelly Gardner, founder and CEO of Virtue Us Investments.
Every year, Eleka Howard teams up with various organizations across the Midlands to host the Mental Health Matters Symposium.
Each year a different mental health topic is discussed and this year’s, the third annual, was an important one for Elleka Howard.
“This year we decided to focus on grief in honor of my late mother, Mrs. Shirley Howard, and we decided to focus on grief this year knowing that many people in our community are also dealing with a variety of mental health issues, grief, anxiety and depression,” Eleka Howard said.
Eleka Howard said she felt it was the right thing to do to offer help to people grieving like her and give them a chance to talk about their experiences, while also pointing others to resources available in the community.
Just like her late mother, Elleka Howard feels she is living a life of service to the community and carrying on her mother’s work and memory.
“My mom encouraged me to never give up, to always try my best, to always believe in myself, and that there will be times when you just don’t feel like doing it,” Eleka Howard said, “But like she said, if death finds me, it will be in service to others, so I feel the same way.”
