“For this second cycle of the Mental Health Visual Desk, CatchLight is looking to support local newsrooms whose reporting efforts are helping reframe how mental health is seen, felt, and understood — and, crucially, what can be done about it.

“Building on our first year of work across California, CatchLight is expanding this initiative nationally. We’ll award up to six grants to local newsrooms producing solutions-driven visual journalism on mental health. Both new and in-progress reporting projects are eligible.

“Mental health is a critical and complex issue intersecting with nearly every aspect of social life and public policy. Visual journalism — through photography, illustration, video, data visualization, and design — can play a powerful role in illuminating these connections with nuance and empathy. This cycle, we’re especially interested in reporting that doesn’t just document the crisis, but examines possible solutions and what’s already working: the people, programs, and policies making a real difference in communities across the country.

“Through this initiative, CatchLight aims to support visual storytelling that goes beyond statistics to reflect local community experiences, challenges, cultural context, and structural realities — with an eye toward community solutions.

“We are seeking proposals from local newsrooms interested in producing visually-driven stories that explore mental health through a solutions lens.

“This initiative offers both financial support [$6,000] and visual editorial guidance to help newsrooms deepen their coverage, enhance storytelling impact, leverage visuals for impactful community engagement and center the lived experiences of local communities, issues and perspectives often underrepresented in mainstream media.”