New nonprofit geared to reduce stress for Inland Empire African American community

In the ever-busy 2020s, nobody is fully immune from stress, anxiety and even grief. Robert Gipson has seen that fact so clearly that he set out to create an organization that focuses on stress management and resource access for the African American community in the region.

The result is Blueprints and Pathways, a nonprofit, community-based organization whose sole mission is to alleviate sometimes overbearing challenges.

“Our mission is to help African Americans make decisions that improve their overall life satisfaction, and we want to impact the community positively,” Gipson says. “We provide roadmaps based on evidence-based practices to address stress and stress management.”

The genesis for Blueprints and Pathways began in 2022. During his journey to become a licensed therapist, Gipson was struck with an impulse to help others on a broader scale. Through a series of cohorts, he acquired vital information to help him form the nonprofit of which he is the founder and executive director. Concurrently, Gipson is pursuing his doctorate at California Baptist University, utilizing the program as the focal point of his doctoral project.

“There is a unique experience of stress for African Americans that comes from racial trauma, generational trauma and just the overall history of the African American experience — including slavery and subsequent inequities,” Gipson says. “That is a separate layer of stress we experience outside of the normal human stress we all experience. Our goal is to comprehensively address those stresses and reduce them utilizing evidence-based practices with an outcome of increased life satisfaction.”

The way the organization implements all that is by focusing on the four pillars of mental health: diet and nutrition, physical exercise, stress management and social health. For instance, stress management can be in the form of any therapy or Christian counseling that the organization will offer. There is also peer-to-peer group support and therapeutic techniques for coping with stress management.

Access to a bevy of resources such as occupational and educational support also filters into the mix.

Recently, Blueprints and Pathways received a Black Equity Fund grant through the Inland Empire Community Foundation. Gipson says the grant funding will “definitely help us in the sense of getting up and running and really work the program.”

One of the unique components of the group’s mission to aid in easing stress is pinpointing those stressors.

“Social determinants of health also impact us,” Gipson notes. “So, for instance, if I don't have an education or income, or my business is not doing well, I may need access to networking. We’re looking deeply into connecting people to vital resources.”

Gipson and his trained partners offer myriad activities — from hikes on local trails to engaging with a counselor, mental health educator or even a holistic practitioner trained in reiki.

“The hikes, for instance, maybe a 30- to 40-minute walk in nature while we discuss some of the stresses that we are experiencing and ways to mitigate them,” he says, “as well as different coping skills. At the same time, it truly allows for social connection with others.

“That’s one big way the grant was great for us,” he says. “It is a technical assistance grant that will help grow and scale the nonprofit model we have.”

Gipson is enthusiastic about the possibilities ahead and believes 2024 and beyond will prove to be fruitful.

“We are starting off small, but ultimately we want to use the results and the outcomes through evaluations and testimonials and then start collecting quantitative data on the mental and psychological changes,” he says. “That will support further growth and expand the model and the entire program.”

Reach out to Blueprints and Pathways at info@blueprintsandpathways.org or via blueprintsandpathways.org.

Inland Empire Community Foundation works to strengthen Inland Southern California through philanthropy.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: New nonprofit geared to reduce stress for African American community