“Speak up For Those That Cannot Speak For Themselves” -Proverbs 31:8
“We Help Educate The Community about Mental Health”
Uphold 31:8 is a consulting agency that provides public speaking, facilitation and consulting services around mental health, employee wellness and wellness initiatives.
2016. Uphold was founded in 2017 by Gary T. Taylor LCSW, to address community teen violence in our hometown of Caroline County, Virginia. We gathered local elected officials, community members and church clergy for conversations about violence in the community. We did three annual events until 2018 and partnered with other community agencies.
2018. Uphold started providing mental health psycho-education to the community with a special focus on the Black Community. Uphold provided trainings and public speaking services for community and church groups. Also, Gary released his first book “You Good Fam?” An analysis of Mental Health in the Black community along with “Mental Health Keys”. We also expanded our reach by attending large conferences out of state discussing Mental Health in the Black Community. We also released Peace/Anxiety T-shirts to promote awareness, Care packages to help with stress/anxiety and created the first Black Mental Health infographics.
2019. We founded the Goodfellaz Project, a support group providing safe space for Black Men to vent and heal. We participated in racial and social justice committees in our hometown Caroline County. We also facilitated discussions around Social and Racial justice in various places.
2020. We evolved into a private practice aiming to provide access to therapy services for a population that is typically forgotten about..the Black Community. We specialized in working with Black Men and Women. We served over 30 clients in the state of Virginia, virtually.
2021. We co-founded Brothas in Social Work Collective as a way to help Social Work programs address lack of Black male social workers, provide support and encouragement to Black Social Workers and provide Equity strategies for Social Work programs.
2022. Provided public speaking and facilitation services at conferences across the country. Gary releases his third published book called Refresh: The Journey To Find Peace, a self-help memoir.
2023. We have now phased out our private practice and focused our attention on consulting. public speaking, facilitation around mental well-being, equity and racial/social justice initiatives. In addition, we provide Clinical Supervision and Social Entrepreneurship Support for new Social Workers, Therapists and Private Practice Owners.
