After Brandon Webber shooting, Memphis pastors ask mental health professionals for help
Corinne S KennedyAfter the shooting death of Brandon Webber and the violent protests that followed, pastors on Memphis’ north end are asking mental health professionals to donate their time and offer free services this week for residents - especially children - who have recently experienced trauma.
Leaders of Frayser-area churches are asking Memphis mental health professionals to donate at least two hours of their time this week. Six churches will open their doors to the health care workers, offering their sanctuaries as workspaces for the free sessions.
Webber was shot and killed in Frayser Wednesday by members of a U.S. Marshal Service task force attempting to serve multiple felony warrants.
Brandon Webber shooting: Mother says son 'loved life' at Frayser vigil
More:Who was Brandon Webber, the Memphis man shot and killed by U.S. Marshals?
DeAndre Brown, founder of LifeLine to Success church, said at a press conference Sunday that without community healing - including mental health resources - Memphis would find itself trapped in a cycle of violence and turmoil.
“What we witnessed Wednesday was an explosion of raw emotion, frustration, but more importantly pain,” he said. “I believe if we do this right, we have the opportunity to begin to heal our community.”
Karen R. Streeter, a licensed school psychologist who works with several Memphis schools, described the effort to provide free mental health sessions as “triage,” addressing the most pressing needs of those who have been most impacted.
Once they’re through the emergency push, she said, health care workers and advocates can help connect children and families who have experienced trauma - which can manifest as depression, anxiety, nightmares, over or under eating, aggression or irritability - to more permanent mental health resources.
“I’m challenging and asking all mental health workers, licensed counselors, social workers, to please come and dedicate these two to three hours this week,” she said. “Trauma has many different effects, and it can have a transgenerational effect.”
State Rep. Antonio Parkinson, who organized the mental health initiative with the pastors, said that politicians and clergy were often criticized for not doing enough for Memphis’ struggling communities. He stressed that Frayser pastors - whom he called physical and spiritual fathers - were taking time out of their Father’s Days to try to provide for mental health needs in their communities.
“The job of the African-American male is to protect the women and children, and that is why we are here,” he said.
The representative, whose district encompasses Raleigh, North Memphis and Bartlett, said that continued exposure to violence, whether experienced or seen on a screen, can desensitize children and adults and lead to feelings of hopelessness.
Related:Brandon Webber: Memphis neighborhoods reckoning with several officer-involved shootings
“The violence that’s been enacted, and shown over our televisions and social media, over and over again, can and will have a lasting effect on adults who see it repeatedly,” Parkinson said. “Imagine what’s happening to the impressionable minds of the children that see it repeatedly.”
He asked mental health counselors asked to donate at least two hours to help people process “what has been a traumatic week of events for all of us in our city.”
“Our goal is to address trauma now, in its infancy stages, so that it does not take root and start manifesting itself in later ages of our children’s lives,” he said.
Vigil for 'the young life lost'
Across town, members of the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope gathered for a prayer vigil outside Memphis City Hall. A Central High School teacher who had taught Webber spoke about him at the vigil and clergy members from houses of worship across Memphis offered prayers and words of comfort for those who knew him or who had been impacted by his death.
MICAH leaders said the vigil was intended to bear witness “to the young life lost,” underserved communities and enduring tensions between law enforcement and many Memphians.
In a statement, the group thanked police officers while calling on them to help improve relationships in the communities they serve.
“Law enforcement is a difficult and often thankless job, and we do not condone violence against police,” MICAH leadership said. “America’s long history of segregation and racism have made policing a role that is better known for criminalizing people of color than protecting them. Thus, for historically oppressed communities, no policing incident stands alone.”
Corinne Kennedy is a reporter for the Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.Kennedy@CommercialAppeal.com or on Twitter @CorinneSKennedy
Mental health services
The following Memphis churches will host free mental health counseling starting June 17.
Innovation Church Memphis
Where: 3925 Overton Crossing
When: Monday through Friday, 3 to 5 p.m.
Promised Land Church
Where: 3430 Overton Crossing
When: Monday through Friday, 5 to 7 p.m.
Ardmore Terrace Baptist Church
Where: 3857 Schoolfield Rd.
When: Monday through Friday, 3 to 5 p.m,
LifeLine to Success
Where: 1647 Dellwood Ave.
When: Monday through Friday, 5 to 7 p.m.
Pursuit of God Transformation Center
Where: 3121 Signal St.
When: Monday through Friday, 3 to 5 p.m.
Breath of Life Christian Center
Where: 3795 Frayser-Raleigh Rd.
When: Monday 5 to 7 p.m., Thursday through Friday, 3 to 5 p.m.
Volunteers
Mental health professionals looking to donate their time are asked to call Parkinson's office at 901-209-5010.