More than 25 million women – almost one in seven – care for family members. The average family caregiver is a 49-year-old woman caring for her mother. While 75% of all caregivers are women, only a small percentage of programs are geared to meet the needs of female minority caregivers. In fact, Black women are underrepresented in the caregiving space.

This is where The Binti Circle (TBC), a fiscally-sponsored support group for Black daughter caregivers comes in. TBC is an intergenerational supportive network that creates space through a monthly support group for Black daughter caregivers to share their pain points, trials, and wins in a no-judgment zone, obtain resources, participate in an ongoing virtual group chat, and learn through interactive creative workshops with a focus on holistic wellness. 

Binti means daughter in Swahili, and the circle symbolizes unity, commitment, love, and community.

The Binti Circle was born out of my own experience as a caregiver to my mother. On August 5, 2018, while serving as a Community Health Peace Corps volunteer in Eswatini, Africa, I learned that my mother was on life support and needed to have a brain craniotomy immediately, or else she would die. The next day I was on a flight home to Baltimore, MD, and, after landing on US soil on August 7, 2018, I became a caregiver in every sense of the word. My life as I knew it was over. I was not prepared for this level of caregiving and my life became all about my mother.

I was completely selfless, which was reckless. And, I felt guilty, and like I was being selfish, when I even thought about doing something for myself. I overate, did not exercise, gained weight, was depressed, and felt isolated. After living this way for over 2 years, I discovered a philosophy called “selfullness”…the sweet spot between selfishness and selflessness. I adopted “The Selfull Caregiver” as my moniker and made it my divine mission to share “selfullness” with other family caregivers. I now take care of myself to better take care of my mother, and was inspired to create a community I so desperately needed.

While caregiving is a genuinely rewarding labor of love, it is also emotionally, mentally, spiritually, financially, and physically taxing.  Sadly, too often, care needs fall disproportionately on Black women, and caring for our parents while attempting to manage careers, finances, children (sandwich generation), and personal well-being, in addition to cultural expectations, is demanding.

CONSIDER THE STATS

Studies show that caregiver interventions, such as support groups and respite can improve the quality of life of both the caregiver and caree (care recipient). Support groups provide a space where non-judgmental emotional support is cultivated and help caregivers reduce depression, stress, anxiety, and social isolation; and, respite retreats provide caregivers a much-needed break to help sustain their overall well-being and resilience.  The Binti Circle is shifting the narrative by offering support and respite. 

In observance of National Family Caregivers Month, we were able to curate a sold-out comedy show fundraiser on November 5, 2022, which increased awareness, created joy, and provided respite for family caregivers.

In addition, we curated an all-expense paid respite retreat from November 18-20, 2022 at Sandy Cove Ministries, a waterfront Christian retreat center in North East, MD. The retreat provided 19 Black daughter caregivers with a much-needed weekend of rest, education, reflection, restoration, connection, relaxation, and fun. This was achieved through participation in well-established approaches for self-care, including but not limited to, yoga, journaling, sound bathing, massage therapy, reflexology, meditation, laughter and connection.   

These approaches are imperative because family caregivers experiencing extreme stress have been shown to age prematurely. This level of stress can take as much as 10 years off a family caregiver's life. Sadly, as mentioned in the Generations Today article titled "It's Time to Meet the Needs of African American and Black Caregivers," the caregiving role for Blacks may result in lower health outcomes because of the lack of institutional support and higher barriers to receiving culturally competent treatments. Therefore, when it comes to Black women's health, the results are significantly worse.

The Binti Circle's focus is on the importance of Black daughter caregivers supporting, encouraging, and empowering one another and becoming a community of holistically well, Black family caregivers – in mind, body, and spirit. In fact, we are partnering with Arch Angels and Emory University to measure the outcomes of our programs and the impact on the caregiver burden and perceived stress of our Binti Circle boSisi (sisters). And, in order to continue our programming we need your help! 

While we are grateful to our sponsors in-kind donations and monetary support, the greatest portion of our funds have come from individual donors like you!  On this Giving Tuesday, we ask that you will help us continue our grassroots efforts by uplifting and supporting Black daughter caregivers through your gift.  No amount is too big or too small. 

Thank you in advance for being a blessing.  

With sincere gratitude,