GEM Project Dayton 2024
For those who advocate for mental health awareness, my guess is that in one way or another, mental health struggles have somehow touched them. Whether personally or through loving someone who struggles, energy for activism usually comes from some kind of experiential knowing. For me, the loss of my two brothers to despair propels me to bring their spirits forward in hope to make a difference. Many who walk among us work hard to live with their mental health issues. Counselling, medication, or other positive practices help them to strive to live abundantly in tandem with their challenges. Corralling demons of the mind and finding reasons to get out of bed in the morning are hard. Those that strive to bring light to such darkness exemplify courage and grit.
My dear friend, Leigh Ann Fulford and I often say we belong to a club we never asked to join. Both of us have lost siblings to suicide. Since the loss of her sister, Leigh Ann has worked tirelessly to bring awareness to mental health and suicide related issues. We’ve worked closely together over the past number of years, and a general consensus is that the most promising path to addressing the alarming incidence of suicide is to reach the young; those just emerging into themselves and the greater world. The incidence of suicide for those aged 13-25 is epidemic. Each year, 5200 youth die by suicide. Yet, it is within this same age group that we see the greatest hope to eradicate the incidence of suicide despite a very complicated world.
Four years ago, Leigh Ann created the GEM Project. GEM stands for Goal Everyone Matters, and is a non-profit organization designed to encourage peer to peer support in suicide prevention through the life-giving world of art. GEM sponsors an art contest for youth, grades 6-12 who live in Dayton. The contest is developed and run by students and offers cash prizes for winners. What I love most about the GEM Art Contest is that all the artwork from the contest is used to promote suicide prevention in a multitude of ways in our community. Submitted art entries create calendars, exhibits, book marks, and slide presentations highlighting the creative expressions of contest participants. Such compilations are shared with the purpose of making others feel not so alone. Even coasters with contest admissions along with crisis information are distributed at local bars and eateries. I have seen first-hand the creative works of inspiration crafted by the youth in our midst, and these various art images have the potential to reach deep seeded ache with others.
September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Reaching those who struggle with despair is hard. It’s really hard to infuse hope to those who feel lost which is why I have such deep support for the GEM Project Dayton. We all know art speaks to the heart in ways words cannot. We also know peer-to-peer support has great potential to redirect potentially harmful hopelessness into shared acceptance of living in truth. The GEM Art Contest illuminates the darkness of mental illness with color and creativity and vibrancy.
Leigh Ann and the GEM Project are revving up for the 2024-25 Art Contest which will open October 10. All area middle and high schools are welcome to participate. If you can make a difference by being a sponsor or following this year’s contest, you’ll feel good. I urge you to think about how you can participate in making the GEM Art Contest a path forward towards hope for the youth among us.
For information, go to gemprojectdayton.org or contact Leigh Ann Fulford at gemprojectdayton@gmail.com. Understanding and embracing our youth is a win-win for us all.