WHO WE ARE
ABOUT US
Mental Makeover is a mental health 501(c) 3 non-profit organization committed to fighting stigma surrounding mental health and empowering young people to learn about mental health and talk about their own thoughts, emotions, and experiences.
We want to actively use our voices to tackle the stigma surrounding mental health, and encourage others to do the same, through our core values, spreading our mission and implementing other engaging, educational tools.
Our logo represents our mission. The light bulb encompassing the brain represents thinking of mental health in a positive light. The box represents the stigma from which we are breaking away from.
OUR CORE VALUES
​RECOGNIZE
Our goal is to have people be able to recognize signs, symptoms, and actions of mental health conditions. We want people to recognize when others or they themselves may be struggling, as well as what resources and/or self-care methods are available to them.
ACCEPT
We must accept as a community that mental health is stigmatized. We must accept that mental health is equally as important as physical health. We must accept where we are in our own mental health journeys, and accept the challenge to face our struggles and work towards committing to a healthier mindset/mental well-being. Change cannot occur without acceptance!
INSPIRE
We want to inspire others to talk about their own struggles, and to change the way that they think about mental health. We want to inspire people to become advocates, supporters and stigma fighters.
SELF-AWARENESS
In order to truly know what you need mentally, physically and spiritually you must be able to listen to yourself, understand yourself and know yourself on a deeper level. Whether it is being aware of our emotions and why we are feeling them, being aware of our energy around certain people, or being aware of when we need a mental rest, self-awareness is crucial to our mental health.
EDUCATE
As a community, we need to pass along our knowledge to anyone and everyone. We need to start conversations and share our stories to destigmatize mental health. We need to be activists for implementing early education in our communities.
Our core values begin with the letters R, A, I, S, and E to spell out RAISE, because the heart of our mission is to {raise} awareness about mental health, and empower young people to educate themselves, to better understand their experiences with mental health, and to de-stigmatize mental health. We can use our very stories and experiences to de-stigmatize mental health in our local and global community.
What goes into a “Mental Makeover”?
A Mental Makeover is exactly as it sounds. It is the way in which we fundamentally change our way of thinking about mental health. Similar to how we do a home makeover, we take everything down from the very foundation and build everything back up. We need to educate and talk to youth about mental health from an early age and set that foundation to help them understand, navigate, and cope with their mental health in healthy ways throughout their adolescent years and into adulthood.
We need to actively use our voices and share our stories to end the stigma: the negative perception around mental health struggles and mental disorders, the hurtful jokes, the insensitive remarks, the de-normalization of receiving treatment, etc. Everyone has mental health. It should not be a topic of conversation we avoid or shy away from. We need a makeover. We need to change the way. We need mental health wellness support, awareness, and youth education among our local, national, and global communities.
What have we done so far?
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Became an official 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
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Organized our first community-wide event - The World Needs You Here Walk - in Salem with over 300+ attendees, along with other small events and educational workshops.
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Raised over $3,000 for a memorial scholarship fund at Salem High School in memory of Sarah Starion (“SAS”).
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Successfully launched our online store with mental health empowerment swag.
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Built an online community of over 2000 followers.
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Created online educational courses in collaboration with Canopylabs.com.
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Created and piloted our “Understanding Emotions” education boxes in Salem Public Schools and in at-home settings with youth and their guardians