WHAT WE DO
Mental Health Programs to Youth
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We offer full mental health curriculum to four local youth community centers during the summer camp and after school program. Each summer camp we interact with over 400 youth. We teach them how to understand their mental health, how to ask for help, how important self-care is, coping skills and much more through unique and interactive programs.
Community Mural Painting
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We sponsored a community mural painting at the North City Park in Safety Harbor. We partnered with local artists, Mena and Tom Kiernan to transform a blank wall into a vibrant mural that emphasized positivity, kindness and tolerance. It was painted by the youth in the neighborhood, and we had over 100 participants. It was an amazing project and added vibrancy along with an important message to the community. We also purchased a Buddy Bench that is at the park. We hope to sponsor more of these community projects in the next year.
Sponsored an In-House Therapy Canine for Police Department
In 2024, Speak Up sponsored the first Pinellas County In-House Therapy Canine for Largo Police Department. "Pension" works with the officers during de-briefs, everyday interactions along with working with youth in the community and domestic abuse victims during their interviews. He has been so instrumental in improving the mental well being of the Largo Police staff. We are hoping to sponsor another canine in 2025.
Community Events
We hold yearly community events in North Pinellas County offering activities for youth and showcasing resources that are available to the residents. Each year we have approximately 150 residents attending each event.
Work with Pinellas County Schools and Recreation Centers
​Currently, we are the only approved organization to speak with Pinellas County School middle and high school students about suicide awareness and mental health by sharing Scott's story. We also have programs for the parents and adults that educates them on how to talk to their children and to look for signs that they may be struggling. During the 2024-2025 school year, we presented to over 1100 students. The more we can talk about this topic, the more the stigma will be removed, and people will ask for help. We presented at the 2024 PCS Climate, Behavior and Mental Health Summer Institute and will be presenting again at the 2025 summer conference.
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​Law Enforcement in the Tri-County Area
We partner with Law Enforcement Agencies during their Crisis Intervention Team training to educate them on how to interact with a person who has a mental illness and is in a crisis. Our goal is to
de-escalate the situation,and ensure that the person in crisis gets the assistance they need while helping to ensure that everyone is safe. We also attend and present at International CIT conferences to share how our involvement with law enforcement has made a difference. In 2024, we presented to over 520 law enforcement officers during the CIT training in the tri-county area.
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You are not Alone, Surviving a Suicide Loss
We provide a trifold brochure, “You Are Not Alone, Surviving a Suicide Loss” to the Law Enforcement Agencies and Mobile Crisis Unit. This trifold is given out to the family members at the scene of a suicide. It provides them with local contacts, national resources, financial information on what to do after a suicide, what to expect emotionally and much more. All in one location, eliminating the searching for this information at a time when you are grieving and overwhelmed.
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North Pinellas County Surviving a Suicide Loss Support Group
We started and continue to facilitate the first North Pinellas County, Surviving a Suicide Loss Support Group. We meet monthly in Dunedin to provide support, coping skills and a safe place for those who have lost someone to suicide. For more details about the time and locations of the support groups, email Dawn at dhandley61@gmail.com.
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Partnering with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)
Dawn has presented at NAMI State Conferences to share Scott’s and our lived experiences with mental illness and suicide. Her objective is to provide hope and resources to others who have someone in their family who has a mental health condition and possibly lost them to a suicide. She is a trained facilitator for many of the NAMI programs.
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​Fundraising Events
We have unique fundraising events in our community to raise proceeds to support our community programs and NAMI-Pinellas’s many projects that are offered to the citizens of our county. All funds from these events go directly to our community, we have no administrative fees or paid staff.
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Working with Youth at Summer Camps in 2024
We partnered with three North Pinellas County summer youth camps, Mattie Williams Family Neighborhood Center, The Union Academy in Tarpon Springs and Tarpon Cops n' Kids to offer a full curriculum of mental health activities. These activities included interactive conversations, drumming, yoga for youth, mental health activity books, gratitude journals, music therapy, art, and financial budgeting for the older youth. We gave every student a backpack filled books, journals, bracelets, and many other items. We interacted with over 325+ youth between the grades of K-10 and the youth embraced the program. As we know that we need to start with the students at a very young age in order to have long term results.
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Window Decal for Mental Health Initiative with Pasco Sheriff's Department​
We have partnered with the Pasco County Sheriff's Department on an initiative to distribute a window
cling that will be an identifier for law enforcement that someone with a mental health condition lives at the
residence. We have distributed over 425 decals in Pasco County. The purpose is that this is decal will help to ensure that everyone is safe and that the interaction will have a more positive outcome. We hope to have Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties participate in the window decal soon. ​​
