AMANI: Advancing Mental Wellness in Black Youth Through an EDIIA‑Grounded Clinical Approach
This article is the second in a new ImPACT series exploring Equity, Diversity, Indigeneity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIIA) clinical initiatives that are changing psychiatry, and published in February 2026, recognizing Black History Month.
AMANI—meaning “peace” in Swahili and “wishes” in Arabic—received its name in 2025 through a collaborative rebranding process with Black youth and service providers. Formerly known as the Substance Abuse Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth (SAPACCY), the new name reflects Africentric values and highlights AMANI’s deep connection to Black communities across Ontario and its commitment to holistic, culturally responsive care.
Together, Donna Alexander, Social Worker at AMANI; Kevin Haynes, Senior Manager of Black Health Strategy at CAMH and Dr. Yolanda Graham, Medical Head at AMANI and Concurrent Youth Unit at CAMH and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at U of T, lead us through how AMANI is improving the lives of this community in need.
What is a clinical EDIIA approach to improve mental wellness for ethnocultural communities, especially Black youth and their family/caregivers, to ensure they have equitable access to mental health and substance use services?
YG: EDIIA is the foundational framework guiding all services delivered through AMANI’s Mental Health and Substance Use Program. Our approach is intentionally grounded in equity, cultural humility, and community accountability. We are committed to inclusive and representative communication that centres the identities, voices, and lived experiences of the populations we serve, using person-centered and strengths-based language at every level of engagement. Our services directly address the impacts of structural and systemic racism by actively removing barriers to access and by rebuilding and sustaining trust within the mental health system. We shift power away from institutional control and place it in the hands of individuals and families, recognizing them as experts in their own lives and experiences. By ensuring access to clinicians with shared or culturally resonant lived experiences, we create space to meaningfully explore racialized trauma and its influence on present-day mental health and wellness. All services are delivered through trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices that honour resilience, promote dignity, and support healing within the full social and historical context of each person’s life.
What motivated this initiative? Why is this initiative needed at this time?
DA: AMANI is the first-ever Canadian hospital and community partnership focused on advancing care for Black youth. AMANI’s Mental Health and Substance Use Program, formerly known as the Substance Abuse Program for African-Canadian and Caribbean Youth (SAPACCY), first emerged in the community in 1993, then into the Donwood Institute before finally migrating to the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) for clinical and administrative support.
At the time, and still largely an issue today, Black youth were underserved by the mental health and substance use system, and often their first interaction with clinical care would be through the justice system. Because of this, the Black community in Ontario advocated for a program that could reduce the barriers Black youth face when trying to access clinical care. In developing SAPACCY, the hope was to promote early intervention for Black youth, thereby decreasing the chances of them interacting with the justice system, an institution that historically has mistreated Black people and, in some cases, has been a cause of death and trauma.
The program would further reduce rehospitalization by offering outpatient services to youth previously admitted. At its conception, SAPACCY began with very little funding and staffing support. Despite the odds, the program continued to thrive for 23 years. Through persistent community advocacy, funding was secured, and this would lead to the program’s expansion across Ontario, beginning a brand-new chapter as AMANI Services. AMANI’s Mental Health and Substance Use Program remains significant because, at its core, it provides Africentric care that factors not only a young person’s mental health and substance use but also their multilayered cultural background.
What is the most important finding/contribution of this initiative, in your opinion?
DA & YG: The most significant contribution of AMANI’s Mental Health and Substance Use Program is its ability to provide culturally responsive Africentric care. When Black youth with mental health and substance use needs access our services, we prioritize their cultural needs alongside their clinical care, considering a variety of factors such as racial socialization, internalized racism and cultural misorientation, to name a few. We look at the root causes and the contributing factors, and the societal threats to mental health, because all of these determinants impact the health of our Black youth. We then strive to reduce the barriers to accessing care by embedding services in the community. At AMANI, we strive for our services to be accessible when youth and/or their family are ready and willing to get help.
How does this change mental health care or clinical practice in the future?
DA & YG: AMANI’s Mental Health and Substance Use Program attempts to restructure the delivery of clinical care through a culturally affirming and Africentric model. Many clinical programs are built upon a model of care that demands a high degree of functioning and organization from clients, such as keeping track of scheduled appointments, collecting medication, and navigating a complex medical system. However, not all clients begin treatment in this position. For youth dealing with deeply impactful mental health and substance use challenges, they face extreme barriers to accessing the pathways of care. Meeting youth where they’re at and affirming all intersections of their identity is critical in evaluating and supporting Black youth, whether that be seeing clients in community or co-creating treatment plans.
How did you overcome the barriers and challenges to maintain and expand a program like SAPACCY, and now AMANI?
DA: Like many clinical programs, especially those focused on Black youth and communities, initially, funding was a challenge for SAPACCY’s development and expansion. However, year after year, the number of youth accessing our services increased. Since the program emerged from community, we were able to create deep and meaningful connections with clients, families and community partners across Ontario. As a result, there was a tremendous amount of community support and advocacy, which ultimately led to our expansion and rebranding.
What is the major take-home message for the public?
YG: Times have changed—youth, mental advocates and community leaders have shown us that talking about mental health is not only acceptable, but appropriate and necessary. Black youth suffer, their mental health and substance use challenges are impactful and societal denial of their experiences leads to a normalization of their symptoms, which can include it negatively impacting their overall health and wellbeing. We can alter the stigma of mental health in Black communities and help generations of youth thrive by providing culturally affirming care where and when they need it, provided by professionals who understand their needs.
Is there any further information or resources you'd like to share?
KH: For more information about AMANI, visit: https://amaniservices.ca . We offer a wide range of programs and services at eight sites across southern and eastern Ontario. We also offer many resources, which can be found at: https://amaniservices.ca/resources/.
Further, is there anyone else you would like to acknowledge?
DA, KH, YG: We would like to acknowledge the efforts of Joshua Mvunga, Communications Coordinator at AMANI, and U of T alumnus, for his contributions not only to this article but also to his dedicated work at AMANI.
