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Our Story
Steel Smiling was founded in 2015 when Julius Boatwright realized his community’s capacity for healing and care when he lost a dear friend to suicide, as he grappled with his own mental health journey, and when he witnessed the shortcomings of the current mental health system through his work as a social worker. Julius brought his curiosity to Black neighborhoods in Pittsburgh with simple questions— what do Black folks think about mental health and mental illness in Pittsburgh? What are folks going through and what is really needed? What are the preferences for how care is delivered? What are we missing? These conversations birthed a movement to bring culturally aligned mental health supports to Allegheny county. He named a mission and a vision: To bridge the gap between Black folks and mental health support, envisioning that all Black folks in Allegheny county would be connected with positive mental health experiences.
What started as community conversations, Mental Health Awareness celebrations, Community crisis response, and Mental Health First Aid trainings has grown to include: Beams to Bridges (our community mental health advocacy training), Steel Healing (the source of our wellness navigation, peer support services, and Black mental health fund), and our newest venture and return to our roots, Wellspring (mapping and nurturing the Black mental health ecosystem in our region).
Our Program Pillars inform everything we do:
Healing
We deliver offerings that foster individual and collective restoration.
Education
We create learning environments that remind us of our collective power and inspire agency, understanding, and compassion.
Practice
We activate healing through reflection, action, and the courage and grace to try again.
This programming was created in response to persistent disparities in care and treatment affecting Black communities, and in recognition of ancestral wisdom and historical healing traditions that have always carried us through. As such, we center the experiences of Black, African American, and other folks within the African diaspora to:
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Foster healing and connection through peer support (Steel Healing)
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Experience the power of collective learning and healing through Community Mental Health Advocacy trainings (Beams to Bridges).
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Support Black communities in reclaiming our healing and narratives (Wellspring).