San Jose clinics push Black health to the forefront

For many, stepping through the doors of Ujima Adult & Family Services and Roots Community Health feels like a Black oasis.

Portraits of important Black figures — Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Marcus Garvey — greet visitors when they walk through the halls. African symbols such as masks and the Djembe drum hang on the walls. Educational posters about where the African diaspora happened and more are plastered throughout. Inspirational African proverbs like “Unity is strength, division is weakness” remind those who enter of their cultural heritage.

The two organizations share an office space, and often share clients. Ujima focuses on providing behavioral health services through a culture-centric lens, and Roots provides primary care and medical services to the Black community and beyond.

With a diminishing African American population in Santa Clara County, having spaces that understand and celebrate Black history and culture becomes even more vital to the improved health of individuals and community, Yvonne Maxwell, founder and director of Ujima Adult & Family Services, said.

“African centered services usually always involve knowledge and understanding of our history, our historical experiences,” Maxwell told San José Spotlight. “What we try to do is to create a space people can feel comfortable, and then can practice some of these cultural values. They don’t have to explain a lot. We already come from the space of understanding.”

Ujima was founded in 1991 after the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors questioned why a disproportionate number of Black and Latino children were in juvenile hall. Supervisors put aside money for a group to provide counseling targeted for African American youth. Maxwell, who was a social worker at the time, wrote a program proposal with the South Bay Association of Black Social Workers and won the contract.

The services Ujima gives have continued to evolve over the years. The organization still focuses on children, providing at-risk Black youth with classes to improve their life skills and exposure to higher education through field trips, summer camps, workshops and more. Ujima also provides a range of mental health services, including crisis intervention, case management and therapy, among others. All are through a cultural lens. This gives clients a safe space to share freely about struggles they may experience due to the color of their skin.

Misdiagnosis of mental symptoms is a common obstacle Black people face from the medical establishment, such as the diagnosis of schizophrenia or paranoia, Maxwell said. Other times, psychiatrists can overmedicate someone, or even withhold medication due to the assumption that the person is seeking drugs, she added.

Ujima strives to not just tackle one mental health episode, but to look at the whole person.

“We do an assessment and evaluation, and date the diagnosis. Then (we’re) treating the right symptoms, and not those that are perceived or projected,” Maxwell told San José Spotlight.

Working in tandem

Roots Community Health, founded in Oakland, opened its San Jose branch in 2017. Chief Administrative Officer Alma Burrell said building trust with clients and hiring workers who understand the cultural experience of Black people are essential.

“It starts with listening, not being in a rush, but actually listening and paying attention. Paying attention to what’s being said, and then responding to it from that shared cultural lens,” Burrell told San José Spotlight.

Having culture-focused care is even more critical when the mortality rates for Black infants and mothers are higher than other ethnicities, Burrell said.

From 2017 to 2022, Black infants in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties died at an average rate of 8.3 for every 1,000 births, more than double the rate for Hispanic/Latino infants at 2.7, Asians at 2.2 or white infants at 2, according to data from the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The major causes for Black infant deaths include low birthweight and birth defects.

Black mothers also died at a much higher rate in these counties. Between 2018 to 2023, they died at an average rate of 69 deaths per 100,000 births, compared to 18 for white mothers, 13 for Latinas and 8 for Asians.

Roots is working to combat these statistics by providing expectant mothers with doulas from pre-pregnancy all the way to postpartum.

“They are actually making a difference,” economist and community advocate Chuck Cantrell told San José Spotlight. “It’s a basic health care step … it’s not a new practice. It’s just empathy, understanding care and to go along with it.”

In addition to addressing people’s mental and physical health, Ujima aims to bolster community health and a sense of belonging within the Black community, which makes up just 2.9% of the nearly 2 million residents living in Santa Clara County.

Through the Ubuntu Wellness initiative, Ujima regularly hosts group activities like hiking, gardening, hair twisting workshops, book clubs, dinners, parent workshops and African drum and dance circles. They also have bi-monthly guided group discussions where people can find fellowship, commiserate and receive affirmation.
Ubuntu means “I am because we are” in the South African Zulu language. With community so deeply ingrained in African cultures, creating a sense of belonging for Black people in Silicon Valley becomes a lifeline. Community wellness is an element that often gets overlooked, but is critical for an individual’s well-being, Menar Negash, program coordinator with Ubuntu Wellness, said.

“That embodies what we’re trying to do,” Negash told San José Spotlight. “We are people through other people, and being together and working on our community wellness together.”

Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.