Monthly Spotlight December 2023: The Big Silence Foundation
By Michelle Lunger
For the December spotlight we chose to highlight The Big Silence Foundation. The Big Silence Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides mental health resources and support. The Big Silence was founded by mental health advocate, wellness entrepreneur, New York Times bestseller, NAMI board adviser, and co-founder of Tone It Up, Karena Dawn. After facing her own mental health challenges and trauma, Karena recognized that suffering in silence “only reinforces the stigma surrounding mental health issues and creates barriers that prevent healing.” Because of her own journey with depression, anxiety, and substance abuse recovery, she wanted to help others along theirs as well. With her commitment to breaking the silence surrounding mental health, Karena founded the Big Silence Foundation.
Below is a quote from Karena on how The Big Silence came to be. We feel it’s so important to understand the “why” behind any organization we support.
“I created The Big Silence Foundation in memory of my mother, who battled with paranoid schizophrenia and severe depression throughout her life. Growing up, my childhood was filled with traumatic experiences that resulted in repressed emotions, shame, guilt and a suicide attempt. There were no resources to help me. No one was talking about mental illness, and it was all very “hushed.” I know from experience that silence only reinforces the stigma. We are here to break the silence, to be a resource and to support a cultural change in mental health. It’s our goal to support people’s mental health journey from childhood to adult and to create a more joyful and loving place.” -Karena Dawn
Furthermore, the Big Silence Foundation cultivates conversations and offers resources and programs to de-stigmatize and change the culture around mental health. These programs and tools are used to support people’s mental health journey at different stages of life from children to adulthood. The Foundation utilizes self-awareness and clarity, stress and anxiety management tools, mind-body strength and flexibility, as well as empathy and listening to others.
Some of the Big Silence Foundation’s programs include “Therapy For All”, corporate wellness programs, and youth programs. One of our favorite programs that they offer is the “Therapy for All” program. This program helps make one on one talk therapy more accessible to others. We at RTW, recognize that mental health services inaccessibility currently serves as a main barrier preventing people from receiving the help they need. From our own experience, we believe that therapy can be an essential tool for anyone wanting to navigate their own mental health. We can only hope that anyone can get the care they need, but in order to do-so, we must overcome the barriers surrounding mental health care. We are proud of the Big Silence Foundation for providing resources to make mental health care more accessible and inclusive. To make this happen, this program provides those in need with financial support. When you make a donation to the foundation, it helps provide resources and mental health support through these programs for people in need. For more information about this program, check out their Therapy for All FAQ page. For more information about their programs and the work they are doing, check out their website.
Overall, we fully support the Big Silence Foundation and the work they are doing to spread mental health awareness, provide a sense of community, destigmatize mental health, open up the conversation surrounding mental health and ultimately make mental health care more accessible. Join us as we support the Big Silence Foundation in their mission to break the silence surrounding mental health!
Learn More:
Donate:
https://thebigsilence.app.neoncrm.com/forms/donate
Podcast:
