Actress Taraji P Henson popularly known as Cookie Lyons thanks to her role in the Emprire drama series, recently revealed plans to launch a mental health foundation. The Foundation, Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation (BLHF), is named after her father and will offer mental health services to youth in the urban schools, combat recidivism in the prison system and provide scholarships to Black students seeking a career in the mental health field to help boost the number of African-American therapists in the United States.
When speaking to People about the foundation and its goals, Taraji shared her passion for the cause and revealed how her father, who died in 2006 at the age of 58 from liver cancer, became the inspiration for it all.
“I named the organization after my father because of his complete and unconditional love for me; his unabashed, unashamed ability to tell the truth, even if it hurt; and his strength to push through his own battles with mental health issues,” said Henson in a statement.
"My dad fought in the Vietnam War for our country, returned broken, and received little to no physical and emotional support. I stand now in his absence, committed to offering support to African Americans who face trauma daily, simply because they are black,” she went ahead.
The official launch will be on 22nd September according to her Instagram page.
A post shared by taraji p henson (@tarajiphenson) on Aug 13, 2018 at 4:25pm PDT
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