Project sWISH, G-Herbo spread mental health awareness

CHICAGO — On Sunday, two collectives came together to help achieve a common goal — gun violence prevention and mental health awareness.

Project sWISH Chicago partnered with the ‘Swervin’ through Stress’ Initiative — founded by Chicago rapper G Herbo — to host a basketball event at the Pullman Community Center focused around giving local youth a safe outlet away from gun violence, while also emphasizing conversations around bettering one another’s mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Project sWISH Chicago was founded some 4 years ago by McKinley Nelson, whose goal for the organization was to bring people together through the game of basketball, providing a safe haven away from guns and violence.

Likewise, G Herbo’s Swervin’ Through Stress initiative seeks to connect Black youth with mental health therapy to help them recover from traumas experienced in Chicago — and financially cover the services for them.

“[G Herbo’s] going to play basketball with us,” Nelson said at the event. “He’s going to have conversations that are open, honest and vulnerable about the things he’s gone through growing up here in the city, and hopefully the kids can relate to it.”

For more information on Project sWISH Chicago and the Swervin’ Through Stress Initiative, you can visit Project sWISH’s website.