Healing should never stop at the clinic door.
At Grounded Initiative, we believe healing should never stop at the clinic door. We unite medical, mental, physical, and community-based care into a single curated ecosystem — moving people from clinical to concrete by transforming expert guidance into tangible routines, trusted providers, and sustainable change. Our promise: no upfront cost, no fragmented care, and no patient left to navigate wellness alone.
No upfront cost
Care access starts before the wallet does.
No fragmented care
One coordinated path across every domain of wellness.
No patient alone
Guides, providers, and community walk with every person.
The Reality We're Facing
The Numbers Tell a Story. The Community Can Change It.
137 million
Americans live where mental health care isn't
That's roughly 4 in 10 of us living in a federally designated mental health professional shortage area. The care exists. It just isn't where people are.
1 in 2
adults report feeling lonely
The Surgeon General found that lacking social connection raises the risk of early death about as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Belonging isn't a nice-to-have. It's a health outcome.
U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation · 2023
33 years
of life expectancy, separated by 10 miles
In Washington, DC, life expectancy in one neighborhood is decades shorter than in another a short drive away. Your ZIP code should not predict how long you live — but right now it does.
These numbers are more than statistics. They represent people, families, neighborhoods, and communities. Grounded Initiative exists to help turn awareness into action — by creating spaces, resources, and connections that support healthier lives from the ground up.
Which issue affects your community the most?
A clear path to healing for every person.
To redefine healthcare by unifying medical, mental, physical, and lifestyle support into one coordinated ecosystem where every person has a clear path to healing.
What Rooted can do
Rooted is the technology arm of the Grounded Initiative Project. It translates community care into a private, personalized experience — from the first assessment to the practice you keep up months later.
Assess
- Six-domain whole-person assessment — physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual, and grounding — with neutral and “neither” response options
- Validated screeners built in: PHQ-9 for depression, GAD-7 for anxiety, PC-PTSD-5 for trauma, plus an image and self-esteem check
- Opt-in consent before any screening question, withdrawable at any time — withdrawing deletes those answers
- A 24-hour safety guide with 988, Crisis Text Line, and SAMHSA routing whenever responses indicate real risk
Understand
- An AI-written care narrative that explains your results in plain language, never your raw screening answers
- Trauma-informed therapy matching that names which styles fit you — CPT, EMDR, DBT and others — and why
- A “why this fits” rationale on every recommendation, so nothing arrives unexplained
- A downloadable Deep Report you can bring to a provider, with your own branding if you want it
Find care
- A searchable catalog of 250+ local services across 41 categories — therapy, movement, nutrition, holistic care, food security, expressive arts and more
- Matching that accounts for budget, insurance, transport, mobility, and accessibility, not just your diagnosis
- Reviews, ratings, price ranges, and out-of-pocket estimates based on whether you are insured
- Verified provider listings, so you know who has been checked
Practice daily
- Guided breathing, mindfulness, and guided-imagery exercises, plus a clarity journal
- A relief tracker that recommends practices for what you are actually feeling and learns what works for you
- Nutrition planning with calorie and macro goals, meal ideas, and shopping lists
- Fitness targets, workout logging, weekly progress, and insights — with Google Calendar sync for anything you schedule
Belong
- Private circles you can create or join by invite, for the people you want alongside you
- A celebrations feed with kudos, so progress gets witnessed rather than tracked alone
- Mentorship matching between people who have walked it and people walking it now
- Ways to give and serve — pledges, care packages, and volunteering across the community
For providers and clinicians
- A provider portal for businesses, clinicians, instructors, and independent practitioners to manage listings, locations, and claims
- A clinician dashboard for the people delivering care
- Referrals that only reach a clinician when the person has chosen to share that result
Yours, privately
- Your results are visible only to you by default — sharing is per assessment, off until you turn it on, and revocable
- Delete your account and your assessments whenever you decide to
- Connect your own AI assistant over MCP to work with your plan, scoped to your data alone
Answer questions about six domains of life, your interests, and your access.
Optional clinical screeners flag depression, anxiety, or suicide risk.
Rooted generates a curated plan of services, providers, and next steps.
Practice daily, track what helps, and stay connected to people and providers over time.
The people behind Grounded.
Two founders, one belief: care should reach people where they actually live.
Jelani
Co-founder
Raised in Queens and shaped by his time at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Jelani leads Rooted's whole-person assessment and product vision — turning what he saw block by block in D.C. into a platform that maps a clear, affordable path to wellness.
Tori
Co-founder & Clinical Advisor
A Detroit-raised Registered Nurse with her MSN, now completing her Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner certificate. Tori brings behavioral and community health experience — and the "From Clinical to Concrete" vision that guides everything we build.
Built like a public good, run like a small business.
Who operates Rooted
Rooted is a product of the Grounded Initiative Project, operated by Grounded Initiative Holdings LLC, a Washington, D.C. limited liability company.
How we're funded
During our grand opening, everything is free. Going forward, Rooted is supported by voluntary pledges and low-cost memberships — never ads, and never selling your data.
Your information
Assessment results and journal entries stay private by default. Community posts show your handle, never your real name or email.
Community & safety
Members can report anything that breaks our rules, and our team reviews every report. Rooted is an educational tool, not medical advice — in a crisis, call or text 988.
We're here to help.
Have a question about Rooted, the Grounded Initiative Project, or how to get involved? Send us a note below or email info@groundinitiativeproject.com.