Hello Keep Oregon Well Community!

Since developing and launching the Keep Oregon Well: Mental Health Matters advocacy platform back in 2014, I have had the great pleasure of watching this big dream for the world transform into a bonafide social movement, thanks to all of you.

The Mental Health Matters network reaches over 1.5 million Oregonians every week through media, partnerships, supporters and spokespeople. Now in our 4th year, Keep Oregon Well continues to grow and expand the movement’s reach, engaging new voices, schools, partners and communities each step of the way.

As a survivor of early childhood sexual abuse myself, I have struggled with persistent suicidal ideation for as long as I can remember. There are still days where I do not want to live…but over the years I have found healing in my life. I see a future for myself now, and I am able to stay connected to that future, even during the inevitable hopeless times. This healing has come by way of massive waves of compassion from others, professional opportunities which have allowed me to cultivate personal safety and a feeling of self-worth, and a team of people who a decade ago convinced me to interact with and, ultimately, speak this big, scary truth about my experience in the world. That truth — hard as it may seem — has been an agent of change in my life since the moment I first allowed myself to really look at it. Read the rest of this entry »