Monthly Spotlight October 2023: To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA)
By Michelle Lunger
For October in honor of our newest campaign, we decided to give the spotlight back to an organization that we fully support and feel connected to: To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA). TWLOHA is a “nonprofit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and invest directly into treatment and recovery.”
We were touched by the founder, Jamie Tworkowski’s story because he didn’t set out to start a nonprofit organization, it found him. He had a mission to help his friend who was struggling and wanted to share her story. The name of the story was called “To Write Love On Her Arms”, a story of hope, friendship, support, and love. By sharing his friend’s story, people from around the world responded by sharing their connection to the story. It made them question what they could do to continue the conversation and to help these people feel seen, heard, hopeful, and inspired. The answer was TWLOHA, and in 2006 TWLOHA officially became an organization. Since then, they have responded to 210,000 messages, traveled more than 3.8 million miles to meet people a part of their communities, and shared 1,100+ blog posts of others stories and launched a podcast to remind others that they are not alone.
We stand with TWLOHA to inspire the belief that we were created to love and be loved, that we need other people- to know and to be known, that everyone's individual stories are different and they matter, and that hope and help is real.
Read the full story here:
TRIGGER WARNING: Self-Harm, Drug Abuse
https://twloha.com/learn/story/
A portion of the proceeds from our newest collection will be given back to this organization. Us at RTW, would like to be transparent on how shopping our collection can make a difference in the mental health community and support TWLOHA’s mission:
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Every $25 we donate will help support TWLOHA’s blog, podcast, and social media channels reminding people that their story matters, help challenge the stigma surrounding mental health, and inspire hope.
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Every $50 allows 300 people access to TWLOHA “Find Help Tool” which connects people to free or reduced cost mental health resources in their area.
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Every $150 equips students with the tools that open up the dialogue for mental health and reduce the surrounding stigma.This makes asking for help possible, approachable and even life saving.
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Every $500 donated goes to their Treatment & Recovery Scholarship which helps erase the financial barriers that prevent so many from accessing mental health care. “Your gift will give 10 people the chance to sit with a licensed mental health professional and start their journey of healing.”
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Every $1,000 will cover the cost of an event, music festival, community gathering, and at schools connecting people with resources and normalizing the conversation surrounding mental health. Each year, they participate in over 100 events. This makes it possible for them to reach thousands of people and deliver life-saving conversations.
Today, TWLOHA has donated $3 million dollars towards treatment and recovery and granted funding to 105 unique organizations and counseling practices.
Shop our newest collection:
https://greybandit.com/collections/ride-the-wave
Learn more about TWLOHA:
Find Help:
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