Wellness, Connection & Care Navigation
Mental Health & Wellness
More Than A Smile Foundation offers trauma-informed wellness activities, peer support, care navigation, and trusted referrals for immigrant and refugee community members in Louisville.
How are you really doing?
It's okay to have hard days. You can talk to someone, connect with people who understand, move your body, take a break, or ask for help. You don't have to figure it out alone.
Need to talk now? Call or text us: 502-956-1414
Why It Matters
Support that honors each person’s experience
Stress, grief, isolation, language barriers, discrimination, and the demands of resettlement can affect wellbeing. People deserve support that is respectful, accessible, and responsive to their lived experience.
Our role is to create welcoming opportunities for connection, share practical information, and help community members navigate trusted resources. We meet people where they are, without judgment or pressure.
More Than A Smile Foundation does not provide clinical assessment, counseling, or treatment. When clinical care is needed, qualified behavioral-health partners provide those services.
Our Programs
Pathways to wellbeing
Shared Healing
Community Support Groups
Peer support and community connection can reduce isolation and make it easier to seek help. We offer trauma-informed wellness activities and opportunities for people to connect, with formats, schedules, and language access shared as they are confirmed.
Trusted Referrals
Care Navigation & Referrals
We help community members understand available resources and connect with trusted providers when appropriate. Qualified behavioral-health partners provide assessment, counseling, and clinical treatment; our role is to offer practical guidance, language-access support, and referrals.
Body & Mind
Mindfulness & Movement
Wellness activities can include movement, creative expression, breathing practices, and opportunities to rest and connect. These non-clinical activities are designed to be welcoming, voluntary, and grounded in community care.
Know Your Resources
Health Resource Navigation
Finding the right resource can be difficult. We share information about trusted services, help people understand options, and offer practical navigation support within our capacity. Clinical questions and treatment decisions remain with qualified providers.
Wellness in Our Community
What healing looks like here
Joy is part of the medicine
Creating as healing
Movement and connection
Families, whole and held
You Are Not Alone
Signs it might be time to reach out
Mental health challenges can look different across cultures and individuals. Here are some signs that you or someone you love might benefit from support:
Feeling persistently sad, hopeless, or empty
Withdrawing from family, friends, or community
Difficulty sleeping, eating, or concentrating
Feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or unable to cope
Reliving traumatic memories or experiencing nightmares
Feeling like a burden to others
Loss of interest in things that once brought joy
Physical symptoms with no clear medical cause — headaches, fatigue, pain
If you are in crisis or having thoughts of harming yourself, please call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) — available 24/7 in multiple languages.
For funders & grant reviewers
Mental Health & Wellness — Program Summary
The information below is structured to support grant applications, funder due diligence, and partnership inquiries. For a full conversation, please reach out directly.
Immigrant and refugee communities in Louisville experience elevated rates of trauma, grief, and displacement-related stress, yet face significant barriers to mental health care: language access, cultural stigma, cost, and a shortage of culturally competent providers. Community-based, non-clinical wellness support is a critical bridge.
Immigrant and refugee youth and adults in Louisville, with a focus on Somali, Somali Bantu, and East African community members. Programming is designed to be accessible to participants who may not engage with traditional clinical mental health services.
South Louisville (Shawnee, Wyandotte, Parkland) and West End. Programming is delivered in community spaces, schools, and partner sites where participants already feel safe.
- Peer support groups facilitated by trained community members
- Trauma-informed wellness activities including art, movement, and outdoor programming
- Care navigation and warm referrals to clinical behavioral health providers
- Mindfulness and stress-reduction workshops
- Crisis awareness and mental health literacy education
- Youth-specific wellness check-ins integrated into other programs
Year-round. Peer support groups meet regularly (frequency varies by cohort). Wellness activities are integrated into existing program events. Care navigation is available on an ongoing, as-needed basis.
Participation and outcome data will be published following the 2026 program cycle. Wellness programming is integrated across the Foundation's programs, reaching participants through multiple touchpoints.
- Participants feel less isolated and more connected to community
- Community members gain awareness of mental health resources and reduce stigma
- Youth and adults develop coping skills and emotional regulation strategies
- Families in crisis are connected to appropriate clinical and social services
- Peer facilitators develop skills and confidence as community wellness leaders
Participation and outcome data will be published following the 2026 program cycle. Programming is grounded in trauma-informed, community-centered practice developed in partnership with the populations served.
- Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky
- Louisville behavioral health referral network
- JCPS school counseling partners
- Local faith communities providing space and trusted relationships
Additional investment would fund training for peer facilitators, expand wellness programming to more community sites, support a part-time Wellness Navigator position, and allow the Foundation to develop a culturally adapted mental health literacy curriculum.
Amina Shale, Executive Director — [email protected] | 502-956-1414
Ready to invest in this program? We welcome site visits, due-diligence calls, and partnership conversations.
Find a supportive next step
Connect with More Than A Smile Foundation for wellness activities, peer support, care navigation, and trusted referrals. If you need clinical care, qualified behavioral-health providers can help.