With a rise in mental health, the feeling to contribute and make a difference rises as well. Driven by a passion to break mental health assumptions, two students launch a nonprofit organization to provide support and resources to teens struggling.
Junior girls, Bora Gashi and Shweta Unnithan, begin a teen-run mental health initiative with the help of the Panhandle Behavioral Health Alliance organization.
“We are very motivated to help our community, especially our age group, navigate through daily struggles and offer awareness campaigns to show our audience that taking care of one’s mental health is just as important as taking care of one’s physical health.” Gashi said.
Mental health rates are seen the highest in high school and college students. The idea of having the ability to reach out to someone who has the resources to help relieves most of the stress, especially if they seem close in age and dealing with the same issues.
“As high school students, we are always subject to pressure and stress from the desire to succeed,” Unnithan said. “Due to busy schedules, we often end up not giving our mental health the care that it needs.”
Both Gashi and Unnithan have an inner drive to achieve greatness. Gashi is an aspiring psychiatrist while Unnithan plans on pursuing a career in medicine. Each share ultimate goals to provide support and help to the people around them.
“My personal goal in life is to do good in my community and help those struggling,” Gashi said. “I’ve always been the person to feel deeply and be of service to others. I want to be the person who offers guidance in my community to those who are afraid to ask for help.”
In order to start MindBloom, the girls reached out to PBHA and proposed a potential alliance to expand mental health awareness to the youth. After meeting with the executive director and gaining collaboration, Gashi and Unnithan now meet and create ideas for their initiative.
“Recently, we completed our first MindBloom activity which was decorating the bulletin board at Amarillo High with Mental Health awareness attachments,” Gashi said. “Additionally, we have other opportunities coming up for our initiative like the United Way Youth Leadership Meeting in December and the Crime Stoppers Q & A session in February.”
As MindBloom grows more popular and known, the girls hope to develop large-scale community activities and therapy workshops to raise awareness and promote positive ways to take care of mental health.
“We are passionate about helping others overcome their struggles, and I believe that caring for one’s mental health should not be seen as a burden but rather a blessing,” Unnithan said. “Success starts with a proper mind.”
Email: [email protected]
PBHA website: panhandlebehavioralhealthalliance.org
