For Antonio Davis, the choice to seek therapy was not just a medical decision, it was an act of reclaiming his power. Growing up on West 130th decades ago, he felt pressure to suppress his emotions.
“I was raised in the projects,” Davis, 41, said. “We always got to be the tough guy, hold our feelings in, you know? Otherwise, we will be called soft.”
But when Davis found himself starting a new job and separating from his wife, he knew he needed help.
“I started getting anxiety, which I had never had in my life before,” Davis said. “That’s what pushed me to try therapy.”
A friend referred him to the Even Kings Feel Healing Community last year.
After attending his first therapy session, Davis immediately felt comfortable and started participating in some of the nonprofit’s other programs. He enjoyed being surrounded by a network of Black people, who he felt could relate to what he was going through. He began to feel better. Managing his emotions and the obstacles that life throws his way became easier, too, he said. He still sees his therapist every other week.
Now as Medicaid cuts loom, the very place that Davis credits with getting his life back on track faces an uncertain future.
H.R. 1, commonly referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill, is set to cut $33 billion from Ohio’s Medicaid funding over the next decade. Under proposed changes expected to take effect in January, 2027, some recipients would have to re-apply for coverage.
Many Even Kings Feel Healing clients, like Davis, use Medicaid.
Facing an uncertain future
For LaToya Logan, the founder of Even Kings Feel Healing, the stakes are high. Healing is not a luxury, she says, it is critical for a healthy community. And the potential changes threaten to push Davis and other Black men like him back into the silence they are working so hard to break.
Combine that, Logan said, with an uncertain economy, and she expects many people to forgo mental health treatment in favor of essentials.
“Health insurance is expensive, many of them are going to pursue part-time jobs or jobs that do not offer benefits because those are the types of jobs that will hire them,” Logan said.
Meanwhile, Cuyahoga County cut a host of social service programs to balance its budget. Add to those challenges a state requirement for mandatory national accreditation for behavioral health providers, which can cost over $12,000. That creates a barrier, Logan said, for smaller, community-based providers, many of which are Black-led and operate with annual budgets of $15,000 or less.
“This is what we are dealing with,” Logan said.
Advocating for cultural competency
For men like Antonio Davis, seeing himself in a care provider is not just a preference, it is mandatory for healing. He said that in previous attempts at therapy, he struggled to connect with providers who did not share his background.
“I’m more comfortable talking with people that look like us,” Davis explained.
“I think about the Black men who come here, and one of the things they always say is, ‘I trust you, so I’ll go where you tell me to go,’” Logan said. “You don’t get that overnight.”
LaToya Logan
This disconnect is exactly what Logan aims to rectify. Logan argues that mainstream mental health resources, such as 988 hotlines, often lack the cultural responsiveness required to truly reach Black males, leaving many to suffer in silence.
“I think about the Black men who come here, and one of the things they always say is, ‘I trust you, so I’ll go where you tell me to go,’” Logan said. “You don’t get that overnight.”
Davis himself now encourages his family and friends to seek support at Even Kings Feel Healing, recognizing that, for many Black men, the assurance of cultural competency is often the only thing standing between them and a complete withdrawal from professional help.
“I tell my 20-year-old son and his friends that they are never too young to go to therapy,” Davis said. “I tell them that it’s OK to cry and that they don’t have to hold their feelings in all the time, that’s not healthy.”
How Even Kings Feel Healing Community started
Logan founded Even Kings Feel Healing Community, formerly known as Project Lift, after working as a clinical social worker at the Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility in Massillon. During that time, she realized there was a void in mental health resources and support for Black men and boys. Over the past decade, her organization has served more than 13,000 Black boys and men, she said. She recently changed the organization’s name to better reflect this work.
“I don’t think our community is a ‘project,’” Logan said. “I’m more interested in creating an ecosystem of healing for Black boys and men in Cuyahoga County, specifically in Cleveland. Even Kings Feel Healing … is more reflective of the impact we’ve had and where we are moving towards in the future.”
What comes next
The Even Kings Feel Healing Community has recently launched a violence intervention and healing justice department, which aims to address the root causes of community violence rather than just treating the symptoms. This initiative includes research-based interviews with 75 incarcerated Black males about restorative justice – alternative, non-violent methods to address harm after a crime is committed. Logan plans to release the research report soon.
Davis hopes that Even Kings Feel Healing and similar services remain strong. It was in part because of his access to Medicaid, Davis said, that he was able to find community.
“There are not too many services out here, especially for young Black men,” Davis said. “If they take away their service, then where does that leave them? Everyone needs an outlet. You never know how resources like this could affect someone’s life in the long run.”
As for Logan, her focus is clear and simple: Find solutions. She is urging policymakers to distribute funding equitably by cutting budgets of large, underperforming organizations instead of penalizing smaller, Black-led groups that are effectively meeting their targets.
“When we take away places that Black males have come to to trust, what we say to them is that your visibility is irrelevant to us. Your wellness is irrelevant to us,” Logan said.
“Racial disparities across Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, and Ohio actively erode wellness outcomes for Black males and boys,” she continued. “Name it, and then put some legislation behind it.”
Want to see this work in action? Attend Even Kings Feel Healing’s 3rd Annual Suicide Prevention Summit from 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Friday, September 25th, at Karamu House, 2355 E. 89th St. Training and resources for suicide prevention and intervention in the Black community will be provided. The event is free, but spots are limited. Click here to make a reservation.
