By Shawn Nowlin
Too often, stigmas exist about mental health, especially in communities of color.
Dr. Deneen Evans, a clinical social worker licensed by the state of Virginia, wants people to know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with lacking the wherewithal to improve your emotional, psychological, or social well-being.
Four years ago, after realizing there weren’t many clinicians of color represented throughout the Roanoke Valley, Deneen, and her family were inspired to open their own business, Mosaic Mental Wellness & Health Counseling.
A family business in the truest sense, explained Deneen, “My son, Brandon, does all of our marketing and branding. My husband, Dwayne, is the CFO, so he handles all of the finances and billing. Even though she is away at school working on her master’s degree, my daughter Sydnee helps by working with communities with disabilities.”
She added, “We first were on Peters Creek Road, but quickly outgrew that space. Rental properties are very expensive and my millennial son told us we need to purchase a building on Williamson Road to run the practice. Generationally, there are just things that we weren’t as astute to do, especially when it comes to economics and business. I’m glad we listened to Brandon because he was 100 percent correct.”
A group private practice counseling service that is embedded in diversity and social justice, Mosaic Mental Wellness & Health Counseling employs a dozen clinicians who work both virtually and in person. The Evans family was very meticulous about hiring personnel trained to help any community that has been historically marginalized.
“We provide mental health counseling services to clients who have not been valued and accepted in the traditional counseling mode,” Deneen, a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Inc., said. “We hire clinicians with diverse backgrounds that can relate to the special issues that our clients are connected to.”
Since 2019, Mosaic Mental Wellness & Health Counseling has served approximately 1,500 clients that represent every type of economic, social, and sexual orientation.
“I recall a particular client coming to see us after seeing a white clinician. She explained she stopped going to her because, during the George Floyd protests, she felt there was a disconnect. Most of the time, clinicians of another color don’t understand the world we live and exist in,” Deneen said.
It is not lost on the Evans that they own the only Black group private practice in the area. “That gives us a lot of leverage and allows us to dictate things on our own terms. Historically, mental health counseling, especially in the private practice setting, hasn’t been an option because insurance didn’t start paying for it until the Affordable Care Act,” Deneen said. “It’s also very empowering for the Black community to know that we are invested in the mental wellness of our diverse communities.”
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, growing up, Deneen’s parents say she was the type of kid on the porch who would help her peers with their issues. It was at Roanoke College where she met Dwayne.
From 2000 to 2006, Deneen served as the first Director of Diversity at her undergraduate alma mater. She then returned to her graduate school alma mater for 15 years as a faculty member at the Radford University School of Social Work, eventually becoming the school’s first African American tenured faculty member.
Currently, Deneen works as a professor at the East Tennessee State University School of Social Work.
More information can be found at mosaiccounselingservices.com.
