How a Nonprofit Flower Project Is Helping Black Men to Heal and Improve Their Mental Health (Exclusive)

"Flowers have been a healing space for me," says Black Men Flower Project co-founder John Pendleton. "I want other Black men to experience that."

Robert Washington-Vaughns looked like he had it all. He had a good job as a lab scientist, a nice apartment, and a beautiful girlfriend, yet he was deeply unhappy.

“I felt like I just wanted to end it all,” he tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. “I didn’t think I had anybody I could reach out to. Everybody was going to tell me to toughen up."

Diagnosed with depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation in 2018, Washington-Vaughns began intensive therapy and spent long periods of time in nature, gradually working through his pain.

"[By] having a community of people I could talk to," says the 34-year-old project manager at Los Alamo National Lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico, "I started to see the beauty of life again."

Related: Man Buys Wife Flowers After Winning $5M Lottery Jackpot: 'I Was Very Pleasantly Surprised,' She Says

A big part of that beauty is flowers and the vulnerability and connection that come with giving them. Inspired to help others, he partnered with Chicago-based Planks and Pistils florist John Pendleton earlier this year to create the Black Men Flower Project.

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Funded primarily by donations, the nonprofit allows men of color to nominate others to receive bouquets as a way to improve mental health, express appreciation and combat toxic masculinity.

Related: Larsen Jay's Nonprofit Has Delivered Recycled Flowers to 60,000 Hospital Patients

“Black men are suffering,” says Pendleton, who, along with Washington-Vaughns, has distributed 120 bouquets through a network of Black-owned flower shops in four U.S. cities and plans to expand their reach nationwide. “Flowers have been a healing space for me," Pendleton, 31, adds. "I want other black men to experience that."

Related: This Chicago Couple Turns Vacant Lots into Flower Farms, Employs Local Youth as Florists: 'There's Hope'

Jonathan Isaiah Smith, the owner of an HVAC company in Columbus, Ohio, was one of the thrilled recipients.

"When I received the flowers, it was a warmth I never felt before," says Smith, 33. "I've bought flowers for years, for funerals or for a woman, but to receive them — I felt loved. It felt like everything that I work so hard for meant something and [was actually] making a difference in the world, especially for my kids. Now I nominate others. And to this day, I try to make sure I keep some flowers around for myself."

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.

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