Mental Health Committee (MHC) Spotlight: Cheryl Jean
Sitting at a Celtics basketball game, Cheryl turned to her younger son—the youngest of her two boys—and asked, “Are you happy to be here?” He responded “Yes.” Feeling happy herself, Cheryl had dreamed of bringing her sons to a professional basketball game for years. But with their busy schedules, it had always been hard to find the time.
The opportunity finally presented itself when Cheryl was recognized by the Celtics as a “Hero Among Us,” for her support of vulnerable residents in Boston seeking to move from homelessness to home ownership. In the same month, Cheryl was one of the 2025 City of Boston EXTRAordinary Women awardees for her “outstanding commitment and dedication to enriching [her] community, neighborhood, and workplace.” The previous year, Cheryl had attended this award ceremony to celebrate a friend receiving this honor. She snapped a picture of herself at the ceremony and captioned it “I’ll see you guys next year!” Little did she know she would indeed be there the following year, but instead as a recipient of the award herself.
Cheryl is no stranger to the nonprofit world, having occupied space within it for the past 30 years. She currently works as the director of the Lower Roxbury Coalition and Wellness Initiative. She fulfills the very necessary role of supporting families in the community with the various challenges that they are facing and provides tangible resources including support with rent, utilities, toiletries, and more. Aside from her full time job, Cheryl also serves as the Vice President for Family Movement, an organization supporting families facing homelessness among other challenges and crises in the community, sits on the Boston Food Access Council, Boston Area Healthy Families Advisory Board and is a strong and active member of the Vital Village Mental Health Committee.
While very busy and sure of herself and her work, it took Cheryl time to determine her inspired path in life. She had always been involved, from a young age, in jobs and organizations that focused on helping people. With parents who had immigrated to the United States from Haiti, she had to translate for them from a young age, particularly reading important documents for them and ensuring that they had whatever resources and documents that they needed. One of her first jobs was as a customer service representative at a local shopping center, and it was here that she found her love for serving as a resource in support of others. A nontraditional student, Cheryl got her Bachelors in Human Services and Masters in Non-Profit Organization later in life. As she reflected on her experiences, she also recognized the importance of her faith, that God put her in spaces and places to support others where she could draw on her own experiences as a single mother, and a person who at one point needed the same resources that she was now able to provide. She reflects that, “I am serving myself. I am serving that person that needed help,” particularly in her work with Family Movement, helping families without homes.
Cheryl initially joined the Vital Village Mental Health Committee to meet like-minded individuals from different organizations with a mutual interest and passion for mental health. Having anxiety herself, and feeling like she has to constantly push it down, was draining, and having the opportunity to talk about mental health year-round with a committee was something that felt important to her. Within the committee Cheryl asked an extremely important question- who was talking to the youth in regards to their mental health? This was unclear, and therefore allowed her the chance to begin the Youth Mental Health Forum, a yearly forum during the month of May. During this event, youth are brought together, and led by peers, in a space to discuss mental health, provide mentorship and speakers, and workshops led by both peers and community providers.
As a lifetime resident in the city of Boston, Cheryl was touched to receive the EXTRAordinary Woman award. To be in a room of women supporting and celebrating other women, without the invisible walls of silos to keep them and their work apart, she got to meet other hardworking, like minded women in different agencies, ages, and from different backgrounds. Following the global pandemic, these long-time silos began to break down, and with these awards the gap is continuing to shrink. Bridges are continuing to be built as women meet other women doing similar work and are allowed the opportunity to form connections and partnerships.
Cheryl shares that, “I hope that my work inspires young women, women, and individuals to support your community.” Community is an important aspect to her work, in that it is unifying, encouraging togetherness. She reflects on a person’s sense of community changing throughout their life and experiences, but that you always belong in one, and it is important to cultivate it and make it the best it can be. Her own inspiration is derived from everything she does but particularly from her two sons Reginald and James - she hopes to show them, and everyone, that “you can do anything you want. The world is yours.”