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Exactly 1 year ago, I was pacing in my room at the hospital, unable to leave it for safety reasons. After giving into my spiraling thoughts, Thirteen Reasons Why came to mind. I decided I wouldn’t stand for this glorification & just wanted to make something positive- anything.

I stand here a year later, in awe of all of you supporting this mission. That day was the start of something great, I am so grateful to everyone who believed in me and helped me realize life is beautiful. You may not see that yet, but one day you will!

Forming a nonprofit, presenting at conferences, and starting groups at hospitals is something I never dreamed of. You all are my 13 Reasons to Fly.

Ubuntu: ” I am because you are” 13 Reasons to Fly exists because you all do.

And at the same time, 1 year later, and stigma still soars. A year later and mental illness is at an all time high. Thank you for joining the fight, we have a long way to go. It’s go time. Thank you.

This week I had the privilege to visit the support group run by TEMPO young adult resource center! We had great discussions on Thirteen Reasons Why as well as what we can do as a community to make life a little brighter. We need more drop in support centers like TEMPO! Let’s follow their lead

So grateful to have been a part of such an amazing show! The excitement & energy was contagious, huge shoutout to DMH and to the incredible ExYo team! I am so lucky to have been a part of such a inspiring night- thank you to Paula Conrad especially! We got to debut the song Reasons to Fly sung by the beautiful Melissa Modifer:)🦋

Wow! I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to speak to educators from the Department of Mental Health. It was great to help emphasize & remind them of a student perspective, as well as share our mission! Such a rewarding day- I even got to see some of my old teachers:) Back to where it all began (almost a year ago!) Thank you especially to Katie and Dianne for helping to organize this workshop! We are so grateful to collaborate with you all.

So grateful to be warmed up on this rainy day by an awesome nonprofit! We were so grateful to sit alongside local organizations working towards similar goals! Thanks to everyone that came out- especially the runners that came out rain or shine⛅️

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to present at the 18th Annual Restraint & Seclusion Prevention Forum. I was so lucky to speak on an issue so near to my heart, alongside other amazing peer mentors from the NAN Project. I am so grateful to the Department of Mental Health- especially Janice Label!

It was a busy day & from there, we headed to the 15th Annual Suicide Prevention Day where the NAN Project premiered their viniets- 13 Reasons Why to talk about suicide, which 13 Reasons to Fly is so grateful to be a part of! Thank you to everyone that came out yesterday, this is the start to not just prevention, but one day elimination.

Huge thank you to Angelia, her team, & all the youth at the Worcester Recovery Center! We had a great day speaking with staff about what they can do to help residents while taking care of themselves. We also had a discussion with parents on what we can do to Best support their struggling children. Most importantly, we had an activity with the youth and it gave me hope to hear some of their stories and get to connect with many of them. They made up their own 13 Reasons and we discussed how we are the future and we can shift stigma and shatter labels.I’m so happy with how today went: Thank you Worcester IRTP!

If you’d like to start a chapter or bring 13RTF to you, contact 13reasonstofly@gmail.com