"No matter what, you are inherently worthy of more than enough life, love and healing. Showing up, just as you are, for yourself and the people around you is more than enough.”
-National Alliance on Mental Illness 2023 #MoreThanEnough campaign
The statistics don’t lie – suicide is the second-leading cause of death among young adults. There is a mental health crisis across the nation and close to home. During the 2022-2023 academic year there was a staggering number of reported suicides at area universities.
There are many organizations doing great work to support the mental health of our student population. We encourage anyone in distress (or supporting someone in distress) to reach out to or review the following:
- The JED Foundation | A nonprofit focused on emotional health and suicide prevention for teens and young adults.
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NC Affiliate)
- Dial 800-451-9682 or Text 919-999-6527 M-F 8:30am-5pm
- Search the hashtag #MoreThanEnough on social media channels
- Suicide & Crisis Lifeline | Dial 988 24/7
Local Resources
We know that more and more of our youth-serving grantees are having to necessarily integrate mental health services into their mission delivery. We also know that our BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately affected by issues impacting their mental well-being. Here are just a few of our local nonprofit partners who are focusing on mental health services for their clients or whose programs are incorporating the mental well-being of their participants:
- Those that explicitly provide mental health services:
- El Futuro
- Durham Public Schools Foundation's WHOLE Schools Initiative
- Pupusas for Education
- The Resiliency Collaborative
- A few whose programs inherently address mental health among young people:
How You Can Help
We encourage support of these organizations or asking youth-serving organizations you support about how you can invest in their ability to address mental health and suicide prevention with the students they serve.