Former Mississippi State safety turned New Orleans Saints standout J.T. Gray is looking to support mental healthcare in the Magnolia State and Louisiana.
The All-Pro safety is raising money to provide mental health services to people in his hometown of Clarksdale, his college town of Starkville, and his current home of New Orleans by launching his Mental Mindset campaign.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, of the 119,000 adults in Mississippi who did not receive necessary mental health care, 47.9% refrained from visiting a specialist because of the cost of care. In Louisiana, 194,000 adults desired mental health care but did not get it, with 41.8% citing finances as the reason.
Money raised will go directly towards scholarships for people of these three cities to obtain needed mental health care. Donations to the initiative can be made here.
“I know that everybody goes through something at some point in their life, and there should always be a helping hand,” Gray said.
Mental Mindset will use the money raised to fund the following:
- $125 — one therapy session
- $1,500 — three months of therapy sessions
- $6,000 — one year of therapy sessions or a week-long intensive workshop
- $15,000 — intensive outpatient
- $30,000 — residential/inpatient treatment
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide or struggling with suicidal thoughts, help is available 24 hours a day through the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. You are not alone.