Welcome friends and colleagues to the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for African American Mental Health Training and Research (I AM) We are pleased to introduce you to our Institute initiatives and look forward to developing a range of collaborative partnerships with you.

The Institute was created to respond to the needs identified by many of you for pertinent information and training designed to enhance the knowledge and cultural competence of practitioners working with African Americans.  We believe I AM will be the place where you and your colleagues can learn "the best practices" for service delivery to African American populations.  We invite you to take full advantage of our expertise.

I AM has offered training programs, since September 1998; beginning with a series focusing on the African American Family.  We will continue our training initiative with a focus on topics such as working with special populations, substance abuse, women's issues, violence prevention, in-home therapy, the role of spirituality, educational interventions and other timely topics.  In addition to its training focus, the Institute will conduct collaborative research designed to enhance knowledge about the role of culture and context in the provision of human services, and we welcome your input into research projects which articulate and respond to your needs and interests.  Please visit the Ujima Collaborative website for more information about ongoing research projects.

We look forward to meeting you and developing a variety of opportunities for ongoing partnerships.  Please let us know how we can be of service to you or your organization by calling the VCU Institute for African American Mental Health Training & Research
(I AM) at (804) 828-8069.