​Hear a personal statement from Isabella Blake-Thomas as she shares her thoughts on the coronavirus pandemic as it relates to mental health. Listen. Hear her honesty. Watch. See her sincerity. With beautiful energy, Isabella speaks from the heart about an issue we are all dealing with.

The Trevor Project reports that nearly 50% of young transgender people have seriously thought about taking their own lives, and 25% report having made a suicide attempt. The National Discrimination Survey puts this number at 40%.
In the Transgender Discrimination Survey, a staggering 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population, with rates rising for those who lost a job due to bias (55%), were harassed/bullied in school (51%), had a low household income, or were the victim of physical assault (61%) or sexual assault (64%).

When you consider the difficulties transgender youth go through during puberty and early adulthood these statistics, while gut-wrenching, really aren’t surprising. A recent blog post on Transgender Mental Health addressed both of these crucial developmental stages:

• Puberty: particularly hard age, since the body begins to change and adapt gender specific features (breasts, changes in genitals, menses, etc).
• Transgender individuals reported “I was disgusted by (hair, breasts, etc.)"
• Early Adulthood: with emotional and financial independence some people feel free to begin to address transgender issues at this age and look into transitioning. However, some are not as free to do so, due to family and other obligations, or lack of information and access to services.

Add to this, the many societal challenges summarized by Advocates for Youth: deliberately incorrect and disrespectful use of names and pronoun; lack of access to appropriate restroom facilities; lack of access to appropriate locker room facilities; rigid dress codes that differ for males and female; confidentiality issues; and lack of role models and accurate information.

What is abundantly clear is that the transgender community continually faces problems that gender-conforming individuals can only imagine. Social ostracism, physical assault, and verbal harassment are just the beginning. Further, the education system is not given the proper tools in order to help these individuals feel safe and secure.
Something clearly must be done... Click HERE to read to full article by author Kerry Martin.

A collaboration between Hope For The Day and Dark Matter Coffee, Sip of Hope is the world’s first coffee shop where 100% of the proceeds support proactive suicide prevention and mental health education. Sip of Hope is the perfect space for breaking the silence around suicide and raising the visibility of mental health resources in our community.

"When Jack and I head to Chicago next month, we are definitely stopping in for a sip to support. In love with the concept of a place for having coffee and conversation for the cause. Suicide prevention and mental health education are so very important." -Allie

It's so important for all of us to be aware of the help and hope that exists. Even when you feel alone, you aren't. - Jack
If you are considering suicide or if you know someone who is, please click here to view/share the Awareness Suicide Awareness Guide.