Chance donates to mental health

Chance the Rapper gives $1 million to provide mental health support for his Chicago hometown

Jennifer Mossuto / Feature Editor / The USD Vista

Popular hip-hop and R&B artist Chancelor Bennett, better known as Chance the Rapper, recently donated $1 million to promote mental health services in his hometown of Chicago.

For sophomore Shaya Rouhifar this news hit close to home. He is an aspiring rapper himself and has always looked up to Chance.

“My first reaction to the news was pure happiness,” Rouhifar said. “It’s awesome to see the hip-hop community and stars getting comfortable with mental health and giving back to the community that helped them when they needed it.”

His nonprofit organization, SocialWorks, will give six mental health providers $100,000 each. Applications for the grant open in January of 2019. There is no statement saying how the other $400,000 will be used. Chance’s charity has five other initiatives including an art and literature fund, a homeless outreach program, a summer program for kids, and an open mic program for Chicago youth. His newest initiative, “My State of Mind,” has a goal to connect more people with treatment and enable them to have the support they deserve and desire.

“We want to change the way that mental health resources are being accessed,” Chance said. “We need a new space where people can get information on how they feel, on where to go and a network for us to interact and review our mental health spaces, and create a community of people helping people.”

With almost 8 million followers on Twitter and 9 million on Instagram, Chance the Rapper is one of this generation’s most popular music artists. He has fans all over the world, including the University of San Diego’s student population.

Riley Trostle, a first year at USD, thinks this donation is very meaningful. He agrees it is important for celebrities with a big following to reach out about important issues such as mental health. He is also not surprised that the donation Chance made was to mental health specifically.

“Celebrities have been talking about (mental health) a lot,” Trostle said. “Since Mac Miller died and Demi Lovato came close to it, a lot of people have been stressing awareness. And basketball players like Kevin Love and Okafor have been talking about publicity these past couple of months too.”

Some speculate that this donation occured because the second week of October is Mental Health Awareness Week and Oct. 10 World Mental Health Day.

“I think he donated out of the goodness of his heart, and even if he did it for the public, I don’t believe he did it to look good, but rather he did it for the public to spread awareness and to encourage others to help too,” Rouhifar said. “Chance has never been about theatrics or the fame. His character and his actions have proved that he does what he does out of passion and kindness.”

Chance recently tweeted about his own personal experience with mental illness.

“Remember when dealing with friends or family with mental illness, that your expectations and their progress will always be separate. It’s easy to become frustrated when dealing with someone you’re so familiar with but its integral to their growth that you are patient & supportive.”

Sophomore Kylé Kirsch wasn’t surprised about the donation due to Chance’s own personal experiences he’s shared with the public and reacted to the tweet and donation.

“I saw a tweet from Chance recently about being patient with loved ones who have mental health issues so I think that reassures me that he didn’t donate the money for a publicity stunt but because of his own personal experience with mental health,” Kirsch said. “I personally have seen a lot more people this year, mainly celebrities, commenting on mental health awareness and I think that’s really great because it shows people who are dealing with mental health issues that other people are going through the same thing and they don’t have to fight their battle alone.”

In recent years, more and more celebrities are getting involved in advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, politics, and mental health awareness. Other celebrities have donated to mental health charities as well. Joel and Benji Madden are involved with five different charities associated with mental health, and another leader in supporting mental health awareness is pop singer Miley Cyrus with two organizations under her belt.

These celebrities are involved in an extremely popular crisis intervention and suicide prevention organization that supports 13-to 24-year-olds in the LGBTQ+ community. Chance follows their lead as he has started his own charity advocating similar ideals and support.Some people think celebrities should stay in their own lane, while others believe they should be encouraged to use their fame and following for good. In relation, Kirsch does not believe Chance was overstepping.

“I think Chance’s donation puts necessary spotlight on supporting those dealing with mental health illness,” Kirsch said.

Chance also proceeded to donate $100,000 to 20 schools in Chicago. He continues to use his makings to donate through his charity as well as spread awareness through other platforms where people are likely to listen.