OUR MISSION

To create opportunities for Black individuals and families to reclaim their right to well-being by increasing access to culturally responsive healthcare, healing spaces, and holistic wellness resources.

Why is Elevate Black Wellness Needed?

Across Washington, Black communities experience disproportionately high rates of chronic illness, stress-related disease, and limited access to quality, culturally affirming healthcare. The result is a deeply embedded health gap that impacts longevity, quality of life, and overall well-being.

The systemic neglect of Black health needs doesn’t just affect individuals—it fractures families, weakens communities, and limits economic and social opportunities. Without intentional investment in Black wellness, these disparities will persist, leading to preventable health crises and continued loss of life and potential.

Every trip to the ER shouldn’t feel like a gamble.

Black patients are less likely to receive proper pain management, timely diagnoses, or life-saving treatments, making a routine hospital visit a potential crisis.

1. Racism in Pain Medicine: We Can and Should Do More

2. Looking Beneath the Surface: Racial Bias in the Treatment and Management of Pain

Our Approach

In order to achieve our shared priority of reclaiming Black well-being across Washington, Elevate Black Wellness is focusing on three key areas:

Expanding access to culturally responsive care
– By growing networks of Black doctors, therapists, and wellness practitioners, we ensure Black individuals and families receive care that understands and respects them.
Building a lasting infrastructure for Black wellness
– By bringing together public agencies, private businesses, and nonprofits, we create a strong, statewide support system that prioritizes Black health and wellness.
Centering community voices and mobilizing action
– Through health events, statewide advocacy like Black Wellness Week, and amplifying the voices of LGBTQIA+ individuals, elders, youth, and people with disabilities, we make sure the most marginalized are the voices we center in order to create change.