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 »

Portland! I will be speaking about my own mental health and recovery journey at this Keep Oregon Well event with Portland Community College on November 1st in PDX.

It’s free and open to the public. Click HERE to RSVP.

See you there!

I had one of the most magical moments of my life and career this past week with the National Council in Seattle. It was a whirlwind of inspiration and recognition and I’m moved beyond words. (Which I realize is complicated in a written post like this. ha!)

Here’s the good news: Keep Oregon Well and Flawless Foundation partnered all throughout #NatCon17 and they have words about it, which were just published last night on the Keep Oregon Well blog. What they wrote absolutely captures the spirit of the week, so I have included it below instead of trying to re-capture it myself. Lots of cute, supportive Tweets at the bottom of the page. OMG.

Thank you again to the National Council! My heart is full.

From Keep Oregon Well and Flawless Foundation: (4/6/17)

This week, the brainchild behind Keep Oregon Well and our very own Chief Impact Officer, Logan Lynn, was called on to share his many talents at the National Council for Behavioral Health’s annual conference, #NatCon17. First, he brought his expertise in community engagement to a panel discussion, “Health Systems Partnering with Communities for Whole Health,” and led a Facebook Live Q&A aftershow with his fellow presenters which, as of publishing this post, has already been viewed over 30,000 times on our Facebook page alone! Then, at the 2017 Awards of Excellence show Tuesday night, Logan was honored by the National Council for the positive impact he has made through Excellence in Artistic Expression and topped off the evening with a live performance of his new song, “Big City Now”.

Watch our Facebook Live video of Logan Lynn’s acceptance speech and performance:

As he shared during the panel, Logan brings a history of lived experience with mental health struggles and substance use challenges to his work with Read the rest of this entry »