Tags: by Phillis Benson | May 31, 2021 | #MyStoryMYSUPERPOWER, MentalHealthMatters, Youthmentalhealth
« Prev1 / 1Next »Let's talk - Virtual Student mental Health ConferenceAudreySydneyDerek - MovementAmeerChelle« Prev1 / 1Next » The global pandemic has upended our lives and impacted our mental health and well-being. Students across the country and the world are experiencing increased mental distress due to the disruptions of school closures, activities, and maintaining social and physical distancing. Now more than ever, it is important to empower students to share their struggles and seek help. ASHA International & Dam Worth It Company have joined forces to have a conversation about mental health with high school students across the country. On Tuesday, May 18th students, teachers, administrators and families joined us at the Let's Talk – Virtual Student Mental Health Conference. Together, we had a real & powerful conversation around mental health. We were joined by ASHA International Storyteller Audrey Steele, Dam Worth It Student Speaker Sydney Guthrie-Baker, followed by Oregon State University Professor Ameer Jaber Almuaybid of General Psychology, and keynote speaker, Chelle Thompson (former NCAA & WNBA Champion). Each of the speakers shared their unique stories and offered tips and insights on how to cope with stress and cultivate resilience and well-being during these difficult times. It was an amazing event! Together, we are normalizing conversations about mental health and inspiring hope and well-being, one story at a time. Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors for making this event...
Tags: by Gayathri Ramprasad | Nov 24, 2020 | #BIPOCMentalHealth, #MyStoryMYSUPERPOWER, Mental Health Matters, Youth mental health
Thank you for being part of the ASHA International family. Because of your support, we could empower Brian to share his story. Brian says “Growing up with depression was hard, but hiding it from everyone was harder.” Brian grew up in a culture that emphasized achievement and endurance above all else. In high school, after being the model-minority for his whole life, his depression got to an all-time high and he started getting panic attacks. These events led him to be honest about his struggles with depression for the first time in his life to his family, and to himself. He hopes that by sharing his story he can change the stigmas within his own community regarding mental health and encourage other Asian-Americans to speak up about their own battles with mental health by showing them they are not alone. At ASHA International, we are acutely aware of the significant barriers to mental health faced by underserved and underrepresented communities – immigrants, refugees, black, indigenous, people of color and LGBTQ+. And, we are dedicated to empowering them to share their stories to inspire hope & ignite change. In 2020, your support empowered ASHA Storytellers like Brian to reach 5,113 people with an inspiring message of hope & well-being. Together, we are shining a light on mental health and ending stigma, one story at a time. This Thanksgiving, all of us at ASHA International want to let you know how grateful we are to have you as part of our family. Your love and support have helped us bring hope and healing to healing to thousands of people, especially during...
Tags: by Gayathri Ramprasad | Oct 25, 2020 | #BIPOCMentalHealth, #MyStoryMYSUPERPOWER, Youth mental health
When COVID first struck, I, like many other college students found myself back in my childhood bedroom. We abruptly transitioned to lectures on Zoom, curfews, and memories of high school while convincing ourselves that we would be back at school soon enough. Yet, while I adjusted to the new normal, I had to simultaneously prepare myself for another drastic change. We first heard that we would have to move back in October 2019, about two months into my freshman year of college. “There’s a backlog in processing green cards right now,” my dad explained as we drove to the airport at the end of Fall Break. In theory, the problem seemed simple, our visas were expiring and the hold in the immigration system meant we wouldn’t be receiving our permanent residency in time, which meant we would have to leave the U.S. But the reality of this situation consumed our family for the following ten months. It meant my dad leaving the U.S for three months in an effort to extend our visas and my mom staying up for nights on end trying to comprehend complex legal jargon and coordinating calls between lawyers. It meant my sister having to go to school every day knowing that the senior year she had been looking forward to for the past three years would no longer be happening. For me, it meant watching my family undergo all of these two thousand miles away and try to balance my life in college at the same time. Every conversation revolved around new updates from the lawyers, trying to learn the names of different immigration forms,...
Tags: by Phillis Benson | Oct 21, 2020 | #MyStoryMYSUPERPOWER, MentalHealthMatters, Youth mental health
Every year, we look forward to celebrating the impact our donors, sponsors and storytellers have helped us have in our community and share our plans for the year ahead. We were so grateful to everyone who joined us at the virtual Celebration of Hope on October 6th – a night filled with inspiring stories of courage, hope and resilience. We are most grateful to our sponsors and donors who helped us raise funds to support our youth mental health programs to promote mental well-being and prevent suicides. There’s still time to support ASHA International’s work in the coming year. Your gift allows us to reach more students in more classrooms virtually in 2021! Make a gift today to support the life-changing work. Together, we are creating communities of hope, empathy and inclusion where all children can learn and thrive. Thanks to our sponsors for their generous support! Enjoy the videos from the 2020 Celebration of Hope! « Prev1 / 1Next »Celebration of Hope 2020 - Full Event RecordingCongratulations Hoda! | 2020 HopeBringer AwardCongratulations to Jared, Eduardo & their team! | 2020 Mental Health Heroes AwardCongratulations PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs! | 2020 Champions of Change AwardLet's end the cycle of silence & isolation surrounding mental health conditions| Natalie's Story« Prev1 / 1Next...
Tags: by Phillis Benson | Oct 20, 2020 | #BIPOCMentalHealth, #MyStoryMYSUPERPOWER, #WomensMentalHealth, MentalHealthMatters
On September 18th, women from across cultures came together to share their mental health stories to give hope and empower each other to heal and thrive. And, women from across the Unites States and around the world joined in virtually. Thank you to all who attended and to all who bravely shared their stories. We once again thank our generous sponsors for making this event possible. And thanks to all our hardworking volunteers who gave their precious time to come together to create a community of connection, hope and well-being. Together, we are normalizing conversations about mental health and inspiring hope and well-being, one story at a time. We can’t wait to see you all at the 2021 Grit & Grace Conference! Thank you for your valuable testimonials! Here are a few we would like to share: “WOW! Completely blown away. It was one of the best conferences I’ve been to in ages. So inspiring, motivating, and uplifting. It was exactly what I didn’t know I needed at this moment in my life. So thank you for that. I appreciated the multiple voices and perspectives and really, really found the youth so inspiring. Can’t thank you enough.” “The Grit and Grace Conference was beautifully put together. The passion and genuineness of each presenter was felt and seen. It was great to hear people tell their own stories and offer support and a togetherness through this avenue. This was important for the mental health field as well as for all humans as we navigate these troubling, tumultuous waters.” “The Grit and Grace Conference was very uplifting and different. This was...
Tags: by Gayathri Ramprasad | Oct 8, 2020 | #MyStoryMYSUPERPOWER, Mental health & wellness, MentalHealthMatters
I recently had an insightful and thought-provoking conversation with Dr. Vikram Patel on how to address inequities in mental health care and ensure mental health for all. Dr. Vikram Patel is The Pershing Square Professor of Global Health in the Blavatnik Institute’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is a co-founder of Sangath, an Indian NGO which won the MacArthur Foundation’s International Prize for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2008 and was listed in TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential persons of the year in 2015. His accomplishments are far too many to...
