PEORIA (25News Now) – A local group is changing the conversation around mental health-especially among Black and brown men.
The Gro Community Mental Health Organization is focused on culturally grounded care. Leaders there aim to create safe spaces for Black and brown men to be heard, understood, and supported.
The group said its mission is simple: remove stigma, rebuild trust, and provide healing that meets real-life struggles, from emotional trauma to the pressures of daily survival.
After the tragic death of Dallas Cowboys Defensive End Marshawn Kneeland, it’s a reminder for Aaron Mallory, founder of Gro, that even at the highest levels, mental health can be silent and unseen.
“The leading cause of death for black boys between the ages of 0 and 35 is homicide,” Mallory said. “A lot of that is tied to trauma and mental health challenges that go unaddressed.”
Mallory explained that this starts with attacking common ideas of what it is to be a man.
“We have to change the stigma of what we think masculinity is. You know this, I gotta be tough, I gotta be hard, take on the world. The John Henryism idea of just work, work, work. I gotta compete to beat the machine.”
According to Mallory, families play a vital role in this process.
“There’s value in community. There’s value in just not holding everything in,” he added.
The group connects them to therapists and mentors who not only look like the young men but also understand their life experiences.
“It’s hard to talk to somebody if you can’t connect or relate to them. The motivation to create Gro was to create a space where our men and boys to have somebody they could relate to,” Mallory said.
While Gro does not have a physical location in Peoria, Mallory said they are working on closing on a building in the area. His dream is to turn it into a hub to help men coming out of prison and restore their self-confidence.
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