- (888) 604-5527
- info@strongstepsbh.org
It began with a simple belief: people facing behavioral health challenges and difficult life circumstances deserve somewhere to turn.
StrongSteps Behavioral Health Foundation was created to help individuals and families navigate challenges, find meaningful support, connect with resources, and take their next step forward.
StrongSteps was founded with an understanding that behavioral health does not exist in isolation.
Mental health can be affected by housing instability, financial hardship, education, family circumstances, relationships, access to care, and the systems people must navigate every day.
Too often, people know they need help but do not know where to begin. StrongSteps was created to help make that first step a little easier.
The earliest roots of StrongSteps began within a college community, where a student-led effort was created to support students experiencing mental-health challenges and connect them with resources.
What started as students helping students revealed something much larger: People needed places where they could ask for help without already knowing exactly what service, program, or system they needed.
That idea became the foundation for StrongSteps.
The challenges people brought forward extended far beyond campus.
Behavioral health was connected to housing. Housing was connected to finances. Family circumstances affected education. Transportation affected access to services. A crisis in one part of someone's life could quickly affect everything else.
individuals helped through the StrongSteps Programs
in back rent paid to help prevent homelessness and preserve housing stability
student program that started it all. Students helping students
Steven later graduated from SUNY Empire State University with honors and a bachelor's degree in Psychology. The student who had dropped out of school had returned and finished.
Education can explain theories, systems and research. Lived experience reveals what those systems feel like to the people navigating them. StrongSteps is built on the belief that both matter.
I cannot change what my family and I experienced growing up. But I can use those experiences to help build something I wish had been easier to find when we needed it. Your worst chapter does not have to be your last chapter.
Steven Carter, Founder, StrongSteps Behavioral Health Foundation
One difficult chapter does not define an entire life.
There is no expiration date on trying again.
Housing, food, finances, education, relationships and community all affect well-being.
Progress can include interruptions and setbacks.
People who have navigated difficult systems can help make those systems more responsive.
Mental-health challenges can affect entire households.
People should have somewhere they can begin.
StrongSteps began as a small college initiative and grew into community impact.
You don't need to have everything figured out. You can start by reaching out.
See how our story became direct support for people and families.
Connect someone you're working with to StrongSteps.
Volunteer, partner, or join us at a community event.
Change rarely happens in one giant leap. One phone call. One conversation. One decision to try again. Built from lived experience. Built around people. Built in community. Built on the belief that no matter where someone is today, another step forward may still be possible. Your story is not finished either.
