Funded Partner Spotlight: The Modern Griot Corporation
When Modern Griot Corporation Founder Lola Morgan lost her brother in 2016, her family didn’t have the resources to process their grief and work toward healing. Eight years later, Morgan is a certified mental health first aid practitioner and life coach who offers others what she wishes someone had offered her.
“After losing my brother, I wish we had spaces to be in community with other people, to express ourselves through a creative format, and to learn more about how to care for ourselves,” she explained. Through the deep work of being side-by-side with people in our community, I understand that the services we provide are what we all deserve to have access to. I fully believe this work is transformational because we’re doing it together.”
Through the Modern Griot Corporation, Morgan promotes health through the eight dimensions of wellness: emotional, physical, occupational, social, spiritual, intellectual, environmental, and financial.
Toward that end, the group offers three signature programs tailored to different populations and needs: the Ultimate Self-Care Experience, which serves families; the Financial Literacy Series for adults; and the Royal Legacy Youth Cohort for students ages 14-16.
The Ultimate Self-Care Experience, which is free for participating families and focuses on emotional and intellectual wellness, takes place the fourth Tuesday of every month at Roam Steakhouse on 34th St. During the sessions, families engage in reflective listening and expressive activities like crafting to foster bonding, encourage deeper listening, decrease stress, stimulate creativity, and spark joy.
“We offer a setting where you feel cared for by your community and have an opportunity to learn about different modalities of self-care – where your voice is activated through empowerment no matter your age. We all deserve to be heard, and this setting allows this freedom of expression,” Morgan said, adding that she partners with vendors like Crafting a Fun Life and Nomadic Fete to support families with creative activities.
The group’s financial literacy series, which is free and open to the public, takes place the second Tuesday of every month at the James B. Sanderlin Neighborhood and Family Center on 22nd Ave South, with instruction on “Mastering Your Money” from Xaviar Gray of Tech & Flow.
The Modern Griot Corporation has also partnered with the Pinellas County Urban League (PCUL) to offer its Royal Legacy: Entrepreneurship Youth program to the 14-16-year-old students in PCUL’s STYLE (Summer Training in Youth Leadership and Employment) Program. Over the summer, students will meet on Tuesdays to learn and then collaboratively write and illustrate a book about the eight dimensions of wellness. Later in the year, they’ll regroup to celebrate the publication of their book with the support of 1st Book Club Publishing, Inc & A Griot’s Corner, LLC.
“After every session with a guest speaker, they’re giving a reflective prompt based on the topic discussed that allows them to understand a given dimension of wellness in their everyday lives,” Morgan said. “It empowers them to think beyond their circumstances about how they could impact the world and our community through what they’re learning and want to achieve.”
A former property manager and freelance writer, Morgan’s journey into the mental wellness space was driven by her writing. In 2019, she wrote The Butterfly and the Bully, a children’s story designed to support kids as they process and move through difficult situations and experiences. After receiving positive feedback from therapists on the book, which is considered a trauma-informed tool, she began exploring the mental health field more deeply, pursuing various certifications, including one in mental health first aid.
Soon, she launched an organization called A Griot’s Corner, which published self-help books and trauma-informed tools for kids.
“I realized that in order to really help children, you have to start with the family,” she said.
In August 2022, The Modern Griot Corporation was born.
“I know it’s a calling. It’s a gift to be able to provide safe spaces for people. We’re right where we need to be,” Morgan said. “If we continue the work from a holistic approach, it will help alleviate some of the barriers that still exist in our communities. We just want people to be well. And we want and deserve more positive outcomes – and to have fun while we’re doing it. We deserve to have fun and find creative joy in our own expression and with community.”
For more information on The Modern Griot Corporation, visit their website at https://www.moderngriotcorporation.org/ or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.