Jeremy Payne (*JP) is a CCS Mental Health Service Provider who brings a grounded, community-centered approach to healing and support. He has experience in collective care, joy-centered frameworks, love ethics, trauma‑informed practices, and culturally dignified support. Jeremy provides services across multiple CCS arrays, including Individual Skill Development and Enhancement, Psychoeducation for individuals and caregivers, and Service Facilitation.
He holds a multidisciplinary Master of Science Degree in Adult Education, Human Services, and Counseling Psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Platteville and is currently pursuing certification as a Peer Support Specialist.
Jeremy’s work is rooted in a non‑deficit philosophy. He views community members as partners with inherent strengths, talents, and possibilities. Instead of “tough love,” he focuses on humane, empowering, and collaborative experiences that feel joyful, liberating, and transformative. His approach emphasizes alignment between personal goals, system navigation, and community well‑being. He centers practices such as reflecting on positionality, honoring lived experience as true knowledge, fostering deep connection, and listening with depth and responsiveness.
Jeremy supports youth, adults, caregivers, and families’ progress by helping them build emotional grounding, expand coping skills, strengthen identity development, and cultivate resilience. His work blends academic training with case management, community organizing, and advocacy. He draws wisdom from elders, ancestors, and lived experience to guide his practice.
As the Owner and Founder of My Black Carrot Mentoring Hub, Jeremy advances collective care frameworks, joy as resistance, and reimagined approaches to human services. His background includes supportive care administration, mentoring pre‑college youth and teaching college‑level courses on identity, mindfulness, and advocacy. He often incorporates nature‑based practices into healing, encouraging people to slow down, reflect, and move forward with intention.
Rooted in family histories from Cairo, Illinois; Western Kentucky–Tennessee; and later South Side Chicago before settling in Southwest Wisconsin, Jeremy carries a legacy of creativity, justice, and transformation. His commitment to what he calls “love impact” guides every interaction, helping people affirm their identities, explore their stories, and recognize their inherent gifts. Whether collaborating with care teams or walking alongside community members outdoors, Jeremy brings compassion, intentionality, and a belief in collective healing to every relationship. JP enjoys family, reading, trying new foods, cooking, laughter, outdoor nurture, and so much more.