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Hey, this is Anny and Samantha and welcome to Steffon

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Never Told You production of iHeartRadio.

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And today we want to take some time to celebrate

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a nonprofit and I think we're going to try to do

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this at least once a month, figuring out specific

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organizations, even though oftentimes when

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we do we talk about the

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people and the organizations. We're

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going to do that throughout. But we did want

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to highlight one organization that's

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been helping the black communities, specifically women

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and girls to lessen the stigma of mental health

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issues and seeking help when they need it.

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And that organization is called

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the Sad Girls Club, which great

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name, by the way, great name, and

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just at the top, yes there is mention

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of suicide, not no details,

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just let you know that that is mentioned. And

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of course with the Sad Girls, we're

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going to be talking about their founder, Elise

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Fox, who started

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this organization in twenty seventeen,

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So Fox released a trailer from her

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very personal documentary titled Conversation

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with Friends, which documents her

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struggle with depression and it was then

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that she realized there are so many women and

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girls like her that understood her struggles

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and needed help, which is how the Sad

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Girls Club began. In twenty seventeen,

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a self dot com article, right after

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confronting her own depression head on, Elise

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Fox founded Sad Girls Club,

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an online group for young women dealing

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with mental health issues, particularly

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women of color.

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The article continues asking Fox why she

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decided to start the organization. Quote, after

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I released that film, an abundance of girls

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reached out to me from all over the world to thank

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me for telling my story, and they said they wanted

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to be more brave and honest toward their

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parents and friends. I felt

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that way too when I was younger, so I wanted to create

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a community for women who were feeling the same

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way as the girls. I wanted

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to create a community around mental illness

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and not make it something that were ashamed of, but something

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that we're proud of.

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Right. And here's a quote from a more recent article

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from Pop Sugar in February twenty two

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eighty four. Alice Fox started

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Side Girls Club in twenty seventeen when

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she was at her lowest. She had attempted

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suicide and was looking for a community of black

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women with whom she could talk about mental

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health. I always call it an accident.

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I'm an accidental activist, she says of

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House Out Girls Club began, but in

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a way that feels like this is my calling

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and this is what's true to me. What she

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didn't know was that the nonprofit organization

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she started in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn would

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reach more than one million women and girls of color

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and counting who are dealing with the same

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mental health challenges she has faced. While

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I was navigating my healing journey, I was looking

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to platforms of like minded people, women

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who looked like me, have similar stories,

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were from the hood, but were still navigating things.

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And I didn't find any of that. I couldn't

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find a place where I saw myself reflected.

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So instead of complaining about it, I just decided

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to create that space, not knowing what it would

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grow into today.

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And the organization has flourished

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since its inception and continues to be a great

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resource for so many people struggling with mental

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health care. The organization works

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to have people meet irl, as

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they explain on the site Sadgirlsclub

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dot org, quote real talk

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in real time, connect with the community

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through poetry, slams, live seminars, yoga

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sessions, and more. In a safe space for anyone

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with feelings in progress.

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And in addition to the IRL and online

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support, they have been quite busy

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also from their site. Since twenty seventeen,

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we've touched two hundred thousand lives across

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five continents and forty countries, with

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over two hundred and fifty hours of free therapy,

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seventy million immediate impressions, and over

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two hundred and sixty five thousand Instagram followers.

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And Fox and the organization

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continue to show the importance of mental health

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support and breaking down the stigma. She

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told Pop Sugar. Sad Girls Club

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is changing the trajectory of how mental health

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is perceived within the black community by

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one removing the veil of the stigma and then

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two showing that vulnerability is okay.

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I think we're flipping the narrative on what we worked

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programmed to think as far as our wellness and

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really putting a new definition to it in a way that makes

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you feel prideful, confident, and aligned with the

4:15

world. There's so much power in numbers.

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The more you see representation of where you

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want to be or what you deem as successful

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or this is where I want to be in my mental health journey,

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the more you would thrive to be in that space.

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And Fox talks about how she felt starting the

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organization, quote, I really had a lot

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of shame around it. Even starting Sad Girls

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Club, I was like, I might just have

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one other person by my side, but that's fine.

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At least one other person had somebody else to

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talk to. It was definitely

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definitely scary. Starting something

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and putting it online is one thing, but starting

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something and then running into friends in person

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and them knowing that you have this experience

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was a whole different game. And I

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was honestly surprised at how I was embraced

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and also how many people in my clothes circle

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were going through the same things as me but

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never had the confidence to talk about it until I

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started speaking about it. So it

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was kind of like that thread of when

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you run a relay race, you pass the baton

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and you see someone going faster than you were,

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you're cheering them on, and they passed the baton

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and you both are cheering that other person

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on. That's what Sad Girls Club kind

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of is. It's like this relay race

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of women or just a community of people who

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want to see everybody win. They

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want everyone to find peace and community

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within their mental health.

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The Sad Girls Club continues to reach so

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many young girls and women as many navigate

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their mental health needs and escaping the stigma

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behind it. Fox has been working with many

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others to break down these stigmas and advocating

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for others around the world and their own journeys.

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She has continued to work in the film world, even

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starting her own brand called Produced

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by Girls, which quote lift up other

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women in the film industry, born out of the need

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to tell more stories centered around women.

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So obviously there's a lot going on. You can

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go to their site Sadgirls Club

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dot org and see if you can

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connect. If you think this is something that could

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be relevant to you, support

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their work. Follow their Instagram that gots a

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really great updated posts,

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being able to ask questions and give you

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resources, so it's a good thing to look into.

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They also have great merch which I'm about to

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order a sweatshirt. On the sweatshirt it says

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the anti Sad Girls Sad Girls Club. I

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think that's what it says anyway, but I'm like, yeah,

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I want I want that shirt. That's amazing. They

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are doing a lot of work still. They

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have a lot of good representation. A lot

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of cubelebrities have been behind this

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initiative and really really seem to support

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what they're doing, So go check it out.

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Thank you so much to Alice Fox who has

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seen a need and took up that mantle,

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as we often see with amazing

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people who realize the need there

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needs to be changed and they become that change.

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Love it, absolutely love it. One

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of our favorite things to see on this

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segment. So listeners,

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yes, go check

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out all of this. If you haven't already. If you have

6:58

suggestions for this resources,

7:01

please let us know. You can email

7:03

us at Stephania mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com.

7:06

You can find us on Twitter at Mom's of podcast or on

7:08

Instagram and TikTok at stuff. Whenever told

7:10

you. We have a tea public store and

7:12

we have a book you can get wherever you get your books.

7:14

Thanks as always to our super producer Christina,

7:17

our executive producer Maya, and your contributor Joey.

7:19

Thank you and thanks to you for listening stuff

7:22

and never to do this production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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from my Heart Radio, you can check out the iHeartRadio app Apple

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