New Orleans was our only city display on the Send Silence Packing Southern tour, and it was an amazing experience. Candace Daniels and Rachael Datz – from the national office in Washington, DC – came to help out at Lafayette Square. We also had students from the Active Minds chapter at Loyola University volunteering their time the entire day.

One of the things we like the most about doing a city display is the opportunity to reach out to a broader audience. When we’re at colleges, our main focus is the students. We will get campus employees and administrators interacting with the display, but they make up a small percentage since the majority of interactions are with college students. It gives Active Minds a chance to reach an audience that has young people in their lives that they can speak with about mental health issues.

At the end of a display in a city, I like to look back at all of the conversations that I’ve had with people and remind myself of how different each person was from each other, but how similar our conversations were. This brings up the important fact that mental health affects us all, and that mental illness doesn’t only affect one “type” of person. Mental illness doesn’t care about a persons age, race, socioeconomic status, or profession. This is especially coherent when I realize how many stories I hear from people that are connected with our movement in one way or another.

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We were in the Business District of New Orleans and were surrounded by several offices. There were business professionals that came throughout the day to tell us that they kept looking out of their window and noticed all of the back packs set-up and needed to see what was going on. Once people heard about what we were doing, they shared their personal experiences of losing friends and family to suicide. Several people came down from their offices to tell stories, show us pictures they had taken from their window, and share gratitude for us being in the city. One man said that there were several people from his graduating high school class that had died by suicide, but that nobody would talk about it. Seeing the display and knowing that young people are working to end stigma toward mental health made him realize things are changing in a positive direction.
We got very similar reactions from the homeless population that interacted with the display. They shared their stories of loved ones that they lost and personal struggles with mental health. We had a couple add a story to one of the backpacks and volunteer their time to help us set-up and take down the display. I spent some time listening to their experience of traveling through the south without a home and how they have gotten help along the way. They also shared how they have helped others to cope with mental illness in positive ways.

The great thing that Send Silence Packing does in a city is bring people from all different places in life to one event. There are so many people in big cities that are having so many different life experiences that they forget how similar we are to each other. People forget that we can help each other and that people care, even if they are a stranger. Send Silence Packing reminds a lot of people – or teaches people for the first time – to speak up and reach out when you notice someone struggling. It shows us that it is okay to ask for help when we need it, no matter who we are.

Our second Texas display at Alvin Community College certainly got off to a unique start. Things started off mostly standard—We woke up, grabbed breakfast, and hopped in our truck to head towards campus. The sun was just coming up and we could feel its warmth (always a good sign for the day) right away. We met with a few organizers from the campus and asked what kind of volunteers we could expect to help set up the display.

“Well, the police cadets will be here shortly,” we heard. We’ve had a lot of different things happen during these tours, but this was a new one. Within a few minutes we had not only the help of students and faculty members, but also of dozens of eager police cadets.

The new volunteers began placing backpacks and within 15 minutes the display was ready to go. This incredibly fast timing worked out to our advantage, because within minutes, professors began sending entire classes full of students out to see the display.

A lot of students at once means a lot of questions coming in at once, and we love being there to answer them with the help of our volunteers. Whether it’s listening to visitor’s stories or exploring their questions, we’re there to give people a space to begin talking about mental health and to give them tools to take away at the end of the day to continue their own conversations. Talking about mental health can be difficult sometimes, but the effects of these conversations can save lives.

Alvin is a community college, which means it’s a little smaller than some of the other schools we visit. The impact, however, is just as grand. The word community really comes out in places like this—not only did we reach students and faculty at this display, but members from the community that came to share in our message as well.

The cadets that helped in the morning didn’t just show up, carry some bags, and disappear, but rather they took time to read the stories and ask their own questions. One in particular pulled me aside and asked me for as many details as I could give about how he could be involved in this movement. We exchanged questions and ideas, and he eventually told me that this is so important to him because it has already affected his life in huge ways in the past and he didn’t know what to do about it. We never got into specifics of what he had experience—and we didn’t need to. The important part came in the what to do next. I was happy to see him leave with an entire stack of reading material for him to use on his own journey in learning how to talk about mental health—something we can all continue to do ourselves.

Hello all! We are currently in Birmingham, AL. We just finished our fantastic (and very windy) display at University of Alabama – Birmingham. We drove in from New Orleans, LA last night and we’re looking forward to Atlanta later this week.

The only thing New Orleans wasn’t very good at was internet in our hotel room. Now that we have working internet, keep an eye out for lots of new blogs from the last couple stops that we’ve had !!

I also wanted to share something. Brandon and I watch lots of Ze Frank while on the road. He’s a funny guy that makes great videos about all kinds of different things. This one in particular stood out to me – especially since we’re on tour. I hope that others will appreciate this the way we did:

After our very long drive to Texas, it was time to begin our display at Collin College on Tuesday morning. It was a bit colder than we expected Texas to be, but the sun didn’t wait long to give us great weather for the display. There were several community and campus groups and resources that were available throughout the day, as well as supportive administration, students, and campus employees.

The campus started off the day with speeches from the officers and advisor of Active Minds at Collin College. The president of Collin College, Cary Israel, gave a speech as well as the Mayor of McKinney, TX, Brian Loughmiller. It was a great feeling to know that Active Minds and Send Silence Packing have the support from such important people at the college and in the community. Not only did Israel and Loughmiller take time out of their day to support the cause, they invited other prominent members of campus and the city to see the impact of Send Silence Packing. They both touched on the importance of mental health and what people can do to help erase the stigma associated with mental illness. President Israel stated that “It’s good to remember, to remember [loved ones lost to suicide].” It is important because remembering is a way to help others that are struggling and a way to help survivors that are coping with someone that they have lost.

There were two performances during the display. The first was Jed Harris, a professor of psychology at Collin College. He has written a song for the Love Is Louder program that the Collin College Active Minds chapter participated in, and he is currently working on a song that he wrote for Send Silence Packing. He played his guitar and sang as students interacted with the display, stopping to talk to students that were interested in what was going on. We also had Kassy Levels perform in the afternoon. She is a 16 year old singer/songwriter that has been singing since age 9. Her sister and father are part of her band, and they perform all over Texas. She performed cover songs as well as songs that she had written herself. Having Jed Harris and Kassy Levels as part of the display set a tone as people walked through the back packs. Having music at the display is a reminder of the soothing qualities of a guitar or the way a song can make you feel better when you are having a rough day.

The display also had a visit from Dancing For a Cause, who performed a routine in the afternoon as well. Dancing For a Cause is a student group on campus that comes together to dance as well as volunteer in the community. There were a few professors that brought their class to the display, including an Art Appreciation class that worked on abstract pieces inspired by Send Silence Packing. Active Minds at McKinney was also supported during the display by SOBI- Strategies of Behavioral Intervention, Hope’s Door- a domestic violence advocacy group, National Alliance on Mental Illness of Collin County, and COGS- Collin Organized Geek Society.

The day was full of inspirational programming unique to Collin College. Having the support of the campus, the community, and many students that came to interact with Send Silence Packing is an amazing feeling. Talking about suicide and mental health is not always well received, which is why we continue to work hard to break the stigma associated with it. Being in McKinney, Texas showed us proof of entire communities dedicated to changing how people view mental health. And that is a good feeling.

As we pulled onto campus and met with the chapter officers, we were excited to hear that the location they had picked was in one of the most high traffic areas on campus. With the help of the local Active Minds chapter, student volunteers, and other community advocates like Bob Sleepy from Nuci Space, we began setting up with 1,100 backpacks.

It didn’t take long to get grab the attention of passerby’s as the local news began covering the event during set-up. The questions started rolling in from students and faculty and we were excited to start answering the. It’s always a great opening to the event when we get a chance to start off the display with curious and enthusiastic students that want to know why we’re on campus.  It sets a great tone for the day, and UGA was no different—we interacted with thousands of students during the day.

With so many conversations, we naturally had a lot of visitors sharing their experience and history with mental health (whether it be themselves or someone in their life) in our traveling journal. You hear so much from us on this blog, so we thought it’d be a good time to share a few comments that visitors left in the journal throughout the day.

“I usually feel so alone. It’s nice to see this around campus”

As a former victim of depression and suicidal thoughts, it really makes me feel relieved to know that this display exists. Thank you.”

“Freshman year I went through a rough first semester. Whether it was homesickness or stress or having no one I knew around (perhaps a combo of everything), I fell into a depression that almost cost me my place in UGA & everything. Luckily I was able to pull through with some new found friends who helped me and my sister. Whatever happens, know that you are stronger than what it hitting you and you WILL make it through. Awesome display. Much love and support.”

“Thanks for being here. Sometimes I just need to talk.” 

“I have struggled with mental illness for most of my life—manic depression, anxiety, bulimia. If I had ended it at the worst point, I would have missed out on the greatest joys of my life.”

“This hits really close to home—one of my very close friends recently attempted suicide. Knowing there are groups out here makes me feel reassured. It’s wonderful to know that help is around and that people are listening.”

“I suffered from a major depression for years. I remember being suicidal since the age of 9. I finally got help 2 years ago. Talking about it changes everything.”

“This display really affected me. I was trying to hold back tears while reading the stories about suicide victims written by their surviving family and friends. This is an issue close to my heart as I have had personal experience between myself and people very close to me struggling with being suicidal. I am only alive today because a friend convinced me to go to my psychiatrist and voluntarily be committed to a hospital on suicide watch. I have supported friends and been supported by them to keep each other alive no matter what. Support and communication are essential to survival. I’m so glad that Active Minds has this display to raise awareness. Too many are silent out of fear. We need to show them that it is okay and things can get better.”