Justice in Bloom: Centering Mental Health in the Fight for Justice

As spring unfolds across Philadelphia, we’re reminded that this season is not just about warmer weather and longer days, it’s about renewal. It's about planting seeds of justice, generosity, and collective care that will take root in the months ahead. At the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, we see May as a moment to pause, reflect, and reinvest in ourselves, in our communities, and in the enduring promise of equal justice under the law.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to acknowledge the quiet, often invisible toll that burnout, vicarious trauma, and emotional fatigue takes on those in the justice sector. Lawyers, nonprofit leaders, and advocates do essential work, often without the structure of care that sustain long-term resilience. The pursuit of justice is demanding, and too often, those on the frontlines neglect their own well-being in service of others. We must remember that care isn’t a distraction from justice, it’s a pillar of it.
We cannot care for our communities if we are not also caring for ourselves. Our ability to serve with clarity, compassion, and purpose depends on our willingness to prioritize mental health, not as an afterthought, but as a central part of the work. We must do as they say on the airplane, before take off, and remember to put our own oxygen mask on before we help others. At the Bar Foundation, we believe that well-being is a justice issue. Civil legal aid organizations don’t just fight for stability for their clients, they create it within their teams. That work is worth celebrating and sustaining.
This month is also a time to honor leadership in all its forms. Nominations are now open for the Philly Justice Awards, and we invite you to look around your circles of friends, colleagues, mentors and respected fellow bar members. Who are the quiet leaders showing up every day to make a difference, without recognition or reward? Let’s shine a light on their contributions. Submit your nomination by May 16.
We also invite our nonprofit partners to apply for our supplemental grants, created in response to the deepening gaps in public funding. These grants are a direct response to the urgency of our moment, and a reflection of our belief that civil legal aid isn’t charity. It is the infrastructure of justice. At a time when organizations are being asked to do more with less, support from the legal community is not optional, it’s essential.
Let’s shift from a mindset of scarcity to one of shared responsibility. When one part of the justice system falters, we all feel the impact. When we support it, we all rise. We all benefit from a strong, fair legal system, but what are we doing to protect it when it’s under threat?
This May, we ask you to take action: nominate a changemaker for the Philly Justice Awards; support a nonprofit partner with your time or resources; make a gift to strengthen legal aid. Above all, care for yourself, and extend that care to others. When justice is rooted in care and lifted by community, it blooms in every season.

PS-This month is a reread for me because of an upcoming book group discussion. I reread Americanah by Chimanmanda Nogozi Adichie which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 2013. It is the story of a young Nigerian woman who emigrates to the United States to attend school but later returns to Nigeria after she completes school. It is a woman with a foot in two very different world and a tale of the immigrant experience. I am glad to have reimmersed myself in this special novel. By the way, there is some local flavor as parts of it are set in Philadelphia.