We are so excited to announce that Our Minds Matter has been chosen as a first-round recipient of a $50,000 grant from Born This Way Foundation’s Kindness in the Community Fund. Born This Way Foundation, co-founded by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, supports the mental health of young people and works with them […]
by Kheira Bekkadja This past fall, I started my first semester of college with a life-long goal of working to build bridges literally by studying civil & infrastructure engineering and figuratively through de-stigmatizing mental health and youth empowerment. My passion for mental health started as a sophomore in high school, when I served as the […]
Happy Pride Month! Pride is a wonderful time for LGBTQ+ folks to celebrate their identity and community, and a good time for aspiring allies to show their support. It’s also an important time to talk about LGBTQ+ mental health. According to the Trevor Project’s National Survey on LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health 2021, 75% of […]
On Wednesday, May 20, 2022 Our Minds Matter’s own Kheira Bekkadja was invited to the White House for the first-ever Mental Health Youth Action Forum, an event led by MTV Entertainment. Kheira joined OMM in 2018 as part of her school’s club, and she’s now a senior advisor on our Teen Advisory Council. Kheira was […]
Thursday, May 19th, 2022 is the second annual Mental Health Action Day. While promoting mental health awareness and acceptance is necessary, chipping away at the stigma around mental health requires action. Mental health action looks different for everyone and individual action is just as important as collective, societal action. Watch the how clubs in the […]
OMM was honored to host our first in-person teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) training at Columbia Heights Educational Campus in Washington, DC last month! tMHFA is a course brought to you by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and the Born This Way Foundation that teaches teens in grades 10-12 how to identify, understand, […]
On May 1st, to kick off Mental Health Acceptance month, Our Minds Matter (OMM) partnered with Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) to host the first annual Move for Mental Health community event. OMM Executive Director, Lauren Anderson and FCPS Mental Wellness Specialist, Bethany Demers opened the event by sharing how OMM and FCPS have been […]
On World Teen Mental Wellness Day, we are pleased to announce that OMM is one of the 2022 recipients of the Hollister Confidence Fund grant program, a 501(c)(3) charity that supports individuals and nonprofits working to strengthen confidence and mental wellness in teens. As a recipient, OMM will be granted $50,000 to grow our nationwide network of 130+ student-led high […]
[image description: group picture of training participations & OMM staff smiling on Zoom (in gallery view)] On Sunday afternoon, January 30th, 2022, 78 student leaders from 54 schools within the Our Minds Matter club network joined our Mid-Year Leadership Training. With a tumultuous start to the new year due to surges in COVID-19 cases across […]
Happy black history month In celebration of Black History Month, Our Minds Matter is bringing awareness to Black youth mental health through our second annual Black Youth Minds Matter campaign. This month, we will be hosting a series of special events, sharing resources that support Black youth, and highlighting mental health professionals that are changemakers […]