Kelly Dumas, LCSW, is the founder of Dumas R.I.S.E. Providers, Inc., a Buffalo-based nonprofit advancing culturally responsive mental health care and strengthening the behavioral-health workforce. With more than 20 years of experience, she supports clinicians of color through mentorship, training, supervision, and professional-development opportunities while connecting community members to mental-health services and essential resources.

Founded in 2024, Dumas R.I.S.E. creates restorative spaces for Black mental-health professionals and helps expand the availability of culturally centered care in Buffalo. Its Building Capacity for Clinicians of Color initiative emerged in response to the May 14, 2022 tragedy and supports clinicians with training, supervision, business-startup tools, and pathways to provide counseling services in the community.

This work advances Health Care Access and Quality, a social determinant of health focused on ensuring people can receive timely, comprehensive, high-quality care. By strengthening the local network of culturally responsive providers and helping communities find care that recognizes their experiences, Dumas R.I.S.E. supports healing, belonging, and joy as essential parts of individual and collective well-being.

For this feature, Fokus’d Kreatives Apprentices researched Kelly Dumas and Dumas R.I.S.E. Providers, developed interview questions on health care access and quality, coordinated pre-production communication and logistics, prepared the interview, and assisted with production on the day of filming.

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“After sitting down with Kelly, I saw how passionate she is about mental health and giving back to the community. I learned that her work goes beyond mental health services- she connects people to essential resources and creates spaces for support and healing.”

- Zauria Robinson