They didn’t meet face to face until 18 hours before launching their first mental health conference in 2021, but that didn’t stop LaGina R. Harris and Melissa Matos from building one of Houston’s most impactful wellness movements.
The two solopreneurs met on Instagram during the pandemic, connected over burnout and entrepreneurship and decided on a plan to create something they both needed but couldn’t find: A mental health space made by and for communities of color.
That idea became Melanin Minds, a nonprofit organization rooted in cultural relevance, intergenerational healing and mental health advocacy for Black and Hispanic communities. What started as a hybrid mental health event is now a multi-day, multi-city experience supported by the Houston Texans YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters and a growing network of health practitioners, community leaders and families.
Houston was always the endgame for Harris. As a military kid with deep family roots in Fifth and Third Ward, she moved back to the city to build something lasting.
“Houston had to be the place. It’s the most diverse, dynamic city and we needed that energy for this kind of work.”
LaGina R. Harris, Co-Founder, Melanin Minds
“Houston had to be the place,” Harris says. “It’s the most diverse, dynamic city and we needed that energy for this kind of work.”
Matos, based in Los Angeles, first fell in love with entrepreneurship before discovering that the real need was deeper, healing.
“When I’m stressed, I stop eating,” Matos said. “When LaGina’s stressed, she overeats. That’s where our conversation started, how our mental health shows up in our everyday lives.”
Healing that looks like us
Melanin Minds now runs year-round programming grounded in five core pillars: Holistic healing, nutrition, relationships, mindset shifting and alignment. Each is designed to tackle the barriers communities of color face when seeking support, whether those are cultural stigmas, financial limitations or a lack of representation in traditional therapy spaces.
Dr. Jei Pearcey, a psychophysiologist and military veteran, joined Melanin Minds after spending years searching for answers in his mental health journey.
“After serving in Operation Enduring Freedom, I saw a shift in myself I couldn’t ignore,” he says. “Trying to figure out what was going on in my own head led me to this work.”
That led him to study psychology and specialize in mind-body medicine.
“Mental health isn’t just about your thoughts,” Pearcey explains. “It’s about your environment, your nutrition, your faith, your joy. One of the first questions I ask my clients is, ‘What do you do for fun?’ Most don’t have an answer.”
Pearcey now helps Melanin Minds integrate whole-person healing into its conference and year-round programming. From mindful eating sessions to his upcoming “mental fitness” workshop with retired NFL player Sammy Knight, he challenges attendees to think of their brains the same way they do their bodies, capable of training, strengthening and rest.
That might mean gardening sessions focused on ancestral foodways, art installations about grief, or barefoot panels where therapists and attendees sit cross-legged in shared space. It’s all intentional.
After losing a close friend to suicide in 2017, Denise Morales felt called to understand grief, trauma and healing in a new way.
“In our community, depression gets labeled as laziness. You’re told to go clean something, not talk about it,” she says. “That loss changed everything for me.”
Morales began with life coaching, but knew she needed more tools. Now a licensed professional counselor associate and founder of Be Nurtured Mental Health Services, Morales uses her role at Melanin Minds to connect with others navigating similar grief and cultural silence.
This year, she’ll lead a panel on holistic healing and spiritual practice, exploring how faith, biology, psychology and social dynamics intersect.
“Our people aren’t just looking for therapists, they’re looking for someone who gets them,” she says. “There’s a reason people say they come unsure and leave changed. “It’s because we don’t just make room for healing, we center it.”
What makes Harris and Matos’s partnership work is the same thing that powers Melanin Minds: Trust, humility and shared vision.
“We didn’t need to control everything,” Harris says. “We needed to let each other shine in our zones of genius.”
They’ve navigated grief, burnout and tough feedback together, all while building something from the ground up.
Harris lost her sister in 2022 and still moved forward with the conference that year. Matos recently re-entered therapy thanks to a connection made through the Melanin Minds network.
“Mental health shouldn’t feel like punishment,” Matos says. “It should feel like coming home to yourself.”
That mindset shows up in their programming and their tone. You might hear music pumping, see toddlers crawling during a panel, or run into a community elder leading a breathing circle.
“We don’t gatekeep healing,” Matos adds. “Everyone gets to be here.”
With a growing following, national partnerships and multiple cities on their roadmap, the co-founders have no plans to slow down.
“Melanin Minds exists because we needed it,” says Harris. “Now we’re just making sure everyone else who needs it can find it too.”
Want to support or attend? Visit melaninminds.org to donate, access culturally competent resources, or get involved.
