The #SameHere program provides students, teachers, administrators and parents with a network of resources, live video sessions and community connections to help support their own mental health.
New York, New York, May 1, 2020- In celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month, Belouga and We’re All A Little Crazy have organized a month-long program, starting, May 1, 2020, to bring together the education community and over 50 leading mental health organizations from around the world. The #SameHere program will focus on the mission that everyone on this planet faces challenges that make us all connected and part of a Same Here group. Embracing these challenges and connections, the Belouga website, www.belouga.org, will host free mental health resources throughout the month of May supporting the mental health of students, teachers, administrators and parents worldwide.
“The past few months have brought unprecedented hardships to each and every community around the world, with a current outlook riddled by uncertainty. We are all seeing the physical toll the virus is taking, but the mental toll remains a huge threat,” said Evin Schwartz, the CEO & Founder of Belouga. “While we might not be able to help the physical wellbeing of the millions infected, we can do our part to support the global population struggling with personal mental health challenges, and what better place to start than the education community.”
Belouga, founded in 2017 and used in over 100 countries by the K-12 market, uses content and community to personalize an educational journey for every learner, both student and teacher. Through peer-to-peer and classroom connection, Belouga aims to make education impactful and accessible on a global scale―helping learners to understand “what happens next” and “how do we get there,” rather than simply checking a box―and its sophisticated technology is making this a possibility. In particular, the platform’s playlist technology―which can connect educators and students with relevant content to maximize their experience by guiding a continuous learning journey―will be key in driving the success of this initiative.
We’re All A Little “Crazy” is a 501c3 founded by 15-year professional sports executive, Eric Kussin, bringing together Athletes, Celebrities, and Expert Practitioners. After a successful career that started at the NBA League Office, and led to senior management positions with a number of professional sports teams, Eric’s mental health took a sudden and rapid decline. Once he found a way to climb out of his abyss, he vowed to spend the rest of his life focused on changing the global conversation through mental health advocacy. Since then, Eric has created a global #SameHere alliance with the mission to spread his message: that everyone in the world is affected by life’s inevitable traumas and stresses.
When discussing the name of his organization, Eric Kussin, Founder of We’re All A Little Crazy & the #SameHere Global Alliance, says he wanted to avoid the stigma around the term “mental illness.”
“It’s a very exclusive, instead of inclusive, term, because there’s the people who ‘have an illness’ and then everyone else. So the problem is, when we say ‘mental illness’ we’re talking about the people who are diagnosed a certain way and then all the other people who don’t want to be considered in that category, so they don’t ask for help,” he says. “So the power of all the folks up here coming out with their story – and I’m humbled that they would come and be a part of this – is that they’re willing to say, ‘No, you know what, all of us go through it.’
The #SameHere logo is an ASL (American Sign Language) official sign. It’s accurately made by pointing your thumb at your chest, curling your three middle fingers like a fist, and extending your pinkie outwards toward the person you’re addressing. It means “same here” in ASL. The collaboration between Belouga and We’re All A Little Crazy will focus on introducing best practices and outlets to all ages and communities to express one’s own mental health. Their objective is to utilize May as the launchpad for the program, and provide a destination for the education community to continue practicing positive mental health moving forward.
“After sharing my own story on social media just for the purposes of helping people, I started to hear from people all around the world,” said Kussin. “When you hear the same thing over and over again, you start to notice patterns. Everyone has a different story, but they are very similar. So the question was- how are we actually going to change what’s going on in society and make a real impact.”
Through the combined ability of Belouga and We’re All A Little Crazy to attract top-quality mental health content, contributors, produce learning experiences that go beyond the status quo of online learning, and increase access to peer and expert networks, this partnership is designed to introduce and enhance learning and safe mental health practices, as a result, giving the entire education community the tools they need to succeed in-and-out of the classroom. Learn more about the program by visiting https://belouga.org
About Belouga
Belouga was founded in 2017 with the mission of making education impactful and accessible on a global scale through peer-to-peer and classroom connection, communication, and collaboration. Realizing the rapidly changing landscape of technology and education, the Belouga team looked to create a central location, which takes the heavy lifting out of global education, and provides teachers and students with a personalized learning experience through community and content without sacrificing creativity or curriculum needs. Learn more at https://belouga.org/
About We’re All A Little Crazy
We’re All A Little “Crazy” – is a Global Mental Health Movement founded by former sports executive, Eric Kussin, alongside an alliance of athletes, celebrities, influencers and expert practitioners who are focusing on “normalizing” mental health conversations by speaking about their own battles and encouraging others to do the same – all united through the ASL symbol #SameHere – showcasing that we all experience our own battles and challenges – an inevitable part of life. Learn more at https://samehereglobal.org/
Evin Schwartz
CEO/Founder @ Belouga
“A simple connection can make a tremendous difference in understanding and accepting other cultures around the world.”