Meraki Healing Center, PLLC

I believe in a world where each person’s journey with suicide becomes a footnote in a chapter of their lives, not the abrupt end of a greater story that wasn’t done being written. I hope you will join me. ❤

In 2008, I learned about this little organization called To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) that was only a couple years old and was working to spread hope and find help for those struggling with addiction, depression, self-injury and suicide. I had stumbled across this organization after googling (was google even a thing yet? yahoo search? not sure), “How to help someone who is thinking about suicide“. I had no formal understanding or training, just my own lived experience, and this was a topic I felt very out of my depths in; I just needed some direction in how to support a person I cared deeply about. If I’m honest, the concept of suicide scared me. I felt powerless and naive, and it felt too vulnerable (too shameful maybe?) to try to do anything about something that felt so intimidating, so foreign, to me. I read stories on their blog, saw the t-shirts they were selling, and began to have my narrow worldview expanded. I still wasn’t comfortable with the topic of suicide, nor did I know how exactly TWLOHA could play a role in my life, but I remember filing this organization away in my brain as a resource I would come back to time and time again.

In 2011, just a few days before my birthday, I watched as TWLOHA won the $1 million grant from Chase at the first-ever American Giving Awards. I will never forget the feeling I had watching this organization, whom I truly had no personal connections to, receive this award; it was like a part of me knew this would be a group I would work closely with for a long time to come. I felt it when Jamie later said about the prize money, “it will allow us to be more creative than ever before in bringing our message of hope and help to the world”. They would go on to use this money to take their flagship “HEAVY & LIGHT” event on the road, touring 16 cities across the United States, to offer a unique evening of songs, conversation, and hope.

Fast forward to the following fall, starting college in a state across the country from the only home I’d ever known, when I felt deeply disconnected from myself, my community, my roots; I S T R U G G L E D. I had a myriad of my own mental health issues, even though I didn’t have the language or the capacity to fully recognize this yet, and I did what I do best to avoid confronting my own truths: I dove headfirst into taking action and keeping myself busy. It was easier for me to embrace the advocate part of me, to spearhead a movement that would have the possibility of benefiting other people, instead of admitting that it was really myself that I was trying to help. During my freshman year at BC, the H&L tour rolled through Boston. I got to bring my roommate and dear friend, and see the power of community, hope, and healing in action. As I look back, I can’t help but think it was this evening, this magical event, that cemented my love for live music. It is also likely the fuel I needed to know that the work I was putting into bringing this organization to my college campus was exactly what I needed to be doing. In 2013, the TWLOHA-BC chapter was initiated, and this journey with mental health advocacy became a passion I was proud to have my name attached to. It snowballed into something I never could’ve imagined, and man am I so grateful it did. It’s a large reason why I’m here, doing the work I am now, as a clinical trauma therapist.

Ever since, I have joined TWLOHA in raising money during their annual Suicide Prevention campaign in September, and it’s sometimes hard to believe it’s been so many years since those early days of discovering this not-so-little-anymore “little organization that could”. I am so proud to be a part of this campaign. It’s taken different forms over the years, and it is 100% the reason why I was able to finally face my own truth a few years back. I won’t get into it now (you can read more about my own process of coming to terms with the deeply personal connection I had to suicide here), but I will say that it feels really important to be able to sit here and write this, now. I know younger-me never envisioned I would be here. She wasn’t sure I’d still be on this planet, let alone be able to use my own story, my own voice, to raise awareness for a topic that is so stigmatized in our society. But I am here. I fought to be here. I humbly acknowledge that the next sentence is still hard for me to write, because I know that younger-me is gawking at it: I know that I deserve to be here. So do you. If for no other reason than you were born, and you are here.

This year, TWLOHA’s suicide prevention campaign centers around the slogan, “I Hope You Stay”. We’re raising our voices to say that losing even one life to suicide is one too many. That your life matters, and your story is important. It’s a call to action, urging you to help us raise money to offset the loss of lifesaving mental healthcare for millions of people this year.

I know how hard it is to maintain hope when it feels like the world is crashing down around you. I know that times can feel really bleak, and the future dim. I’m not trying to say that it’s easy, or that there’s one fail-safe path to get there. What I am trying to say is that you are worth it. The dark days do get better. If you don’t believe me, that’s okay. I’ve been there. I didn’t believe it either, and I genuinely didn’t understand the point of trying. But I am here now, and I will hold onto the hope for you. I will continue to take action in the ways that feel right for me so that I can show up and say, I hope you stay. We need you here. You deserve to feel the power of community, the life-changing impact of a felt sense of belonging. I want you to experience the magic of finding what it is that lights you up from the deepest depths of your soul, and get to experience the way this can take new shape many times throughout your life. It exists. The hope for a better tomorrow exists. It is out there for you, and if it feels out of your grasp, I want you to know that you are not alone. That there are many of us who will extend our hands to say that we will walk this journey with you. Not to pull you out of it, not to say that you need to do something different, but to say that you do not have to face this alone. We’ll take it one baby step at a time, together. I will take it one baby step at a time alongside you.

If you’d like to learn more about TWLOHA’s fundraiser, visit their campaign headquarters page here. There are many ways you can be involved, and every. small. action. counts. We’ve set a goal to raise $250,000 by the end of September. These funds go directly into funding treatment and recovery for those struggling. It makes it possible for individuals to sit with a counselor, often for the first time, and embark on their own journeys of healing. If you’re here reading this, you can play a part in providing hope for someone to face their darkest day. If you’re one of those people, maybe you need to hear that there are thousands – millions, probably – of people who are doing what they can to make it possible for you to know that there’s joy on the other side of the suffering. I care about you, and I am with you, and I will forever thank you for being here.

I believe in a world where each person’s journey with suicide becomes a footnote in a chapter of their lives, not the abrupt end of a greater story that wasn’t done being written. I hope you will join me. ❤

With all my love,

Cassidy

want to be involved? visit my fundraising page here to learn more and help me reach my goal.

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If you are struggling, please know help is available. Here are some resources you may find beneficial:

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: if you or someone you know is in crisis – whether considering suicide or not – call or text ‘988’ to speak with a trained crisis counselor.

Crisis Text Line: a free, 24/7 text line for those in crisis. Text “HOME” to 741741 to chat with a trained crisis counselor.

The Trevor Project: a national organization offering support, including suicide prevention, for LGBTQ+ youth and their friends. There are many resources offered 24/7 – call 866.488.7386, instant message a counselor on their website, or text “START” to 678678.

SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline: 24/7 crisis counseling and support for people experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters. Call 800.985.5990.

You can find a link to more 24-hour helplines through TWLOHA’s website here. You can also use their “FIND HELP” tool to locate free or reduced cost counseling and other mental health resources in your community.