My name is j. nyla, and this campaign is for a dear friend, psychologist, healer, community and cultural bearer colleague Mystiika. Please join in supporting Mystiika so they can continue to bring healing, love, and connection to our community.

I'm launching this campaign to support Mystiika and their family through a tough time - none of us can afford this trailblazer burning out - and to build back capacity through funds that will help them meet their needs. This will support them getting back out there to do the incredible 1:1, group, and systems doula work they do SO WELL, without extra financial stress and strain!

Did you know? ...

... that Black psychologists are significantly underrepresented, comprising only about 4% of U.S. psychologists, which exacerbates mental health disparities?

... Black-owned businesses are often smaller, younger, and face higher loan denial rates, with only 0.5% of support capital going to Black founders?

That means we are out here PAYING to work!

Support like this can often help to prevent and reverse the negative impact doing our work has on us as career helpers, as we are often socially, spiritually, and emotionally spending more than we can afford.

We are coming together to meet a need for Mystiika to support the emerging needs of their family, and rebuild capacity so they can continue to serve the community on their own volition. Funds raised will go directly to care, living expenses, and basic necessities for their family, giving Mystiika the breathing room they need to continue.

I firmly believe that we need to invest in our healers and mental health workers' wellness, but systems overall are not set up to do that efficiently enough. We need to support healers and therapists better, y'all! They do so much for us, but their needs often go unmet.

More about Mystiika (and why I'm launching this campaign) *°࿐ *ੈ✩‧

Mystiika refuses to let the adversity they've experienced define them, or diminish their capacity for love, creation, and healing. Born and raised in the greater LA area, Mystiika spent their childhood and young adulthood in the foster care system, moving through institutions that were meant to hold them back but never did. (Another fact: ... just 3-4% of former foster youth obtain a four-year college degree, and Mystiika has SEVERAL!)

Mystiika is dynamite in their fields. From yoga to dynamic painting workshops, the best listening ear, to the fiercest entrepreneurship, to the coolest public health campaigns around, they continue to dedicate their life to supporting others as a healer and community worker. Their organization, Spiritual Wellfare Inc., was born from lived experiences: not just Mystiika’s, but those of ancestors, elders, and communities who have shaped them. Spiritual Wellfare has had a significant impact on the soul and creativity of our colorful community and has grown in incredible ways since its inception from organic support alone.

As a fellow Black femme colleague in this field, I've always understood how absolutely difficult it is to start from the ground up and to stay standing, especially in healing and "helping" careers in a society that so greatly dismisses mental health support and emotional + spiritual labor. Navigating survival as a Black gender-expansive being, Mystiika has learned to discern who aligns with their mission, to advocate for themselves, and to accept help, and I FEEL that, as resources that support US are often far and few between. Our society is brutally obsessed with GRIT and independence, in which we were not designed for as Black-Indigenous beings.

Mystiika believes that we meet ourselves through others, that we are interconnected, and that true healing happens when we choose to co-regulate rather than repeat cycles of harm. Their work is about reclaiming wellness as a birthright - rooted in joy, freedom, and love - as an antidote to the spiritual warfare we navigate daily. To do this work, material needs are required!

Currently, Mystiika is newly raising a teen in a loving relationship with their partner. This has been a deep labor of love and learning, but right now, opportunities are not lining up to support the family. The usual systemic supports aren’t fast enough. They urgently need funds to maintain basic needs. (Additionally, I've padded the goal amount in order to support Mystiika with their capacity for their work, and to contribute family wellness funds toward a much needed break from the stress of having to just survive, give, give, and give).

Thanks for learning more! Give what you can, if you can, and please share out!

Thank you,

j. nyla mcneill