Dumas R.I.S.E. Providers, Inc. was founded in 2024, when I accepted the assignment to create space specifically designed for mental health professionals to find Restoration In Sound Environments (R.I.S.E.). Sound can be replaced with stable, safe, secure. . . I choose sound because I’m reminded that we were created to be of sound mind.  Since obtaining my Master’s in Social Work in 2003, I found myself working in various management positions within behavioral health systems routed in systemically biased practices and policies.  Most institutions were too blind and uninterested in seeing it. Others had some awareness and curiosity towards changing it, until the backlash brought on by true transformation proved to be too much. My experience with this chipped away at my core, as I endured day after day of micro and macroaggressions.

Being the fist and the only Black employee at leadership levels within these organizations came with a numbing pain that only my faith could help me to endure. I had to figure out how to not lose myself in these environments, how to be successful in these large and often uninviting corporate spaces, and how to make room for not only myself but also my other qualified Black and Brown brothers and sisters who would seek me out for support, guidance, and reprieve.  I would see us in our desire to serve and help others while we ourselves were being hurt and suppressed by systems designed to keep us down. (Sawubona= I see you).  Still we RISE.    

Dumas R.I.S.E Providers, Inc. is where we come to restore, empower, and uplift ourselves and each other so that we may continue to serve in our fullest capacities.  No longer will I have my identity erased, or dismissed for the advancement of spaces that will never truly see my value and contributions.  Dumas R.I.S.E. Providers, Inc. is where those of us in the helping profession, including our faith leaders who are often the first line of mental health support for our Black communities, can find what we need to thrive.  Not only will we seek self-restoration but we will also actively pour into our youth to provide them with the information, resources, and support needed to prepare them for entering into the space of providing mental health support. To all those who uttered words that resulted in stunted growth, under development, and under utilization of our gifts, … Yet We R.I.S.E.