Sustaining mental health and engagement

Sustaining a community-driven initiative isn’t only about systems and strategy, it’s also about the people doing the work. Many grassroots leaders are navigating personal responsibilities, grief, burnout, or exhaustion while trying to show up for their communities. For your group to stay energized and resilient, tending to mental health and engagement must be part of the work, not an afterthought.

By creating a culture of care, your group can reduce burnout, normalize asking for support, and make participation feel more sustainable and joyful over time. 

Pause and Reflect

Before moving forward, it’s important to pause and notice how your group is doing: emotionally, energetically, and relationally. These prompts are here to support that check-in.

  • How are we building a culture that encourages care?

  • Have we named or acknowledged signs of burnout within our group? Are we doing so from a place of care?

  • What helps us sustain joy and meaning in this work?

  • What practices or rhythms help us feel restored and connected to our purpose?

  • Do people feel safe to speak up when they’re overwhelmed?

Supporting Collective Mental Health

Climate work often invites people to hold complexity: grief for what’s been lost, urgency to act, and hope for something better. This emotional labor is real and, when this labor is unacknowledged, even those who care deeply and are highly committed can easily burn out. Sustaining your work long-term means tending to the emotional landscape, not just the logistics. Building emotional resilience together is part of building climate resilience.


For your team, this might look like:

  • Regular check-ins that make space for emotional honesty and not just project updates.

  • Shared agreements around rest, communication, and workload pacing.

  • Time for connection and joy, celebrating progress, sharing food, being human together.

For your broader community, it could include:

  • Creating welcoming spaces that acknowledge feelings of fear, frustration, or hope.

  • Holding events that nourish, not just inform, through art, storytelling, food, or ritual.

  • Providing emotional context when talking about climate so it doesn’t feel overwhelming or isolating.

  • Collaborating with local healers, artists, and facilitators to bring wellness and restoration into your work.

Resources