Champion for Change: Celia Thomas Honored as a Leonard W. Smith Mental Health Hero
Celia Thomas is chief operating officer at Alternatives for Girls, a Detroit-based nonprofit organization that helps girls and young women at risk of violence and homelessness access the support and resources they need to grow and make positive choices for their lives.
She’s also an honoree of the inaugural Leonard W. Smith Mental Health Hero Award from the Ethel and James Flinn Foundation. We caught up with Thomas to learn more about her, the work she does, and her thoughts on this award.
Q: How does it feel to be recognized as a Leonard W. Smith Mental Health Hero?
Thomas: Oh my goodness! I’m surprised. I’ve always tended to be someone in the background and just taking a huge leadership and supportive role — and to have such an award is pretty amazing.
Q: I’m sure there are lots of heartwarming success stories at Alternatives for Girls in the past 37 years. Is there anything you want people to know that they may not know?
Thomas: There are so many. In our after-school programming we had a family of, I believe it was six girls with a young mom, a single parent. They all made it through our program and one of them became a Detroit city council person. I could go on and on.
Q: The Leonard W. Smith Mental Health Hero award comes with something unique — a month-long break to “relax, restore and return refreshed and re-energized.” How do you plan to spend this time?
Thomas: We leaders tend to be highly motivated, hugely focused and just moving, moving to get an agenda completed. Our roles tend to be very demanding and most of us are totally invested in the organization’s mission. And, for many of us, it’s our lifetime mission as well, to be responsive to people in need, to move agendas related to the human services field and those related to what we call the social determinants of health, for example.
So when I contemplated a break initially I thought really? What does that look like, exactly? I have to be honest. For me, most times when I take a vacation, the laptop goes with me. I tell my staff that I need about three days to calm down and then be on vacation. And I need a day and a half to ramp back up. So to have a month off is huge for someone like me. It’s huge!
It gives me that opportunity, that window to shut it down and literally focus on nothing. Nothing. Which means rest, relaxation and restoration.
I plan to leave the country. I am an immigrant from Jamaica, the Caribbean, and I don’t get home a lot since my parents are gone. So I plan to just go home and sit there. We don’t have internet, and that’s OK.
Q: Why do you think a break is good for mental health?
Thomas: When you think about sleep and the impact that has on the brain and the body, it’s huge. I firmly believe that having the chance to totally shut down the brain, having the chance to not think about the things that bring income and, even in the best sense, the mission — just to shut down is really rejuvenating. Having the chance to sleep, achieve deep sleep more frequently, it’s all contributing to mental health and wellness.
Q: What do you think girls today need in order to be the strong women of tomorrow?
Thomas: I definitely believe that there are inequities in our society today that lend themselves to challenges for girls and young women. They need safety, people they can connect with, to talk to, to listen, to play with, to just be around who can echo and support their feelings and help them trust and believe that things will get better over time. They need safety; they need stability.
Q: What is your best personal asset that you bring to your role?
Thomas: I always heard I was like my dad. He never met a stranger. He could get along with business owners and the man pushing a coconut cart on the street. This is a trait that I’ve absolutely inherited — the ability to meet people where they are. I show up as a leader and I’m never afraid of being a follower.
Q: What do you do regularly to care for your own mental health?
Thomas: Over the past 10 years, I’ve really focused on allowing myself to just be in the moment, wherever that is, whatever that is, to catch the teeny, tiny moments so I can restore and rejuvenate. I’ve leaned into that more over the last 10 years than I did in the — let’s be real — four decades before that.
Alternatives for Girls (AFG) is a Detroit-based nonprofit established over 37 years ago as a community-driven response to rising concerns about young girls in vulnerable situations. Initially formed to address issues such as exploitation, homelessness and lack of access to education, AFG has evolved into a comprehensive support system for at-risk girls and young women. Its mission focuses on empowering them to make positive choices and achieve their potential.
AFG’s core programs include outreach, prevention programs, shelter services, early childhood education and housing stability. Through these efforts, AFG has transformed countless lives, helping girls and young women achieve safety, stability and success.
Learn more about the Leonard W. Smith Mental Health Hero Award and each of the inaugural honorees at flinnfoundation.org.
