Meeting People Where They’re at in Their Mental Health Journey
Hope For The Day® (H.F.T.D) is a non-profit movement empowering the conversation on proactive suicide prevention and mental health education. Proactive suicide prevention means taking steps to care for our mental health before challenges adversely affect our lives.
On average we lose 130 people every day to suicide, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Suicide is a preventable mental health crisis. By talking about our mental health, educating others, and providing the tools and resources needed, we can save lives.
Founded in 2011, H.F.T.D. has its roots in the Chicago music scene providing outreach at local shows. Since then, we have been starting the conversation across all 50 states and in over 25 countries.
We envision a world where mental health challenges carry no negative societal stigmas and all people have equal access to mental health education and proactive suicide prevention resources. H.F.T.D. works to accomplish this through outreach, education and community action.
Outreach
We provide community outreach and seek to connect with as many people as possible. By meeting people where they’re at, we can let them know that they’re not alone and that IT’S OK NOT TO BE OK.® From music festivals to farmers markets, art shows, and cafeterias, we want to start the conversation anywhere and everywhere.
Mental health conversations belong in every space, industry, and community. We all have mental health and some people need more support. We want to ensure that everyone has the resources they need when they need them.
At outreach events in 2021 we distributed over 100,000 resource cards containing nationally vetted mental health resources on one side and “IT’S OK NOT TO BE OK” on the other.
Education
H.F.T.D offers peer-to-peer education workshops to provide tools and knowledge to care for yourself and others. The education programming avoids medical jargon to make the content accessible to a wider audience.
Our current education offerings include:
• The Things We Don’t Say | Part 1 — a program designed to teach individuals how to understand self-care and be supportive to proactive mental health care for others. We press the discussion about stigma, its impact on individuals and communities, and teach practical skills for early recognition of mental health challenges
• The Things We Don’t Say | Part 2 — an interactive, educational experience and workshop that builds on the skills learned from HFTD’s original general audience presentation, Things We Don’t Say | Part 1.
• Project R.E.D. Team — mental health education and outreach programming variant designed by members of the military, first responders, and their families, Reminding Everyone Deployed IT’S OK NOT TO BE OK.
• Identity & Orientation — a platform for discussing the unique intersection of LGBTQ+ experiences and mental health. Built by LGBTQ+ people, for LGBTQ+ people.
Action
Action is where you come in! Through our work we strive to empower and encourage the people we interact with to connect with others in their communities. We want to start the conversation with you and maybe you can start the conversation with someone else — your friends, families, or coworkers.
You can also start the conversation with your online community by hosting a charity stream.
By raising money for Hope for the Day, you are helping to break the silence of stigma and taking a step to bring the conversation about mental health into your space.
All donations support HFTD’s proactive prevention projects including our outreach efforts to meet people where they’re at and our mental health education to help us to continue to provide free live education sessions in-person and via Zoom.
Every donation, every conversation makes a difference. We are in this together.
- Start a fundraiser today for Hope For The Day!
- Learn more about Hope For The Day
This article was written by Mary Grace Ritter and submitted to the Streamlabs Charity team as part of a charity spotlight series.
