A new advocate steps in as Minnesota's mental health needs rise

MPR News with Angela Davis · May 6, 2026 · 35m

Nearly one in five Americans rate their mental health and emotional well-being as poor, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

In Minnesota, many people's mental health has been strained by a series of overlapping stresses — from the COVID-19 pandemic to the murder of George Floyd, the assassination of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, the mass shooting at Annunciation Church and School, and more recently, a surge in federal immigration enforcement that has left many communities experiencing fear and uncertainty.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with the new…