After only a year at the University, To Write Love on Her Arms is still a young organization with plenty of goals to achieve. But its members are ready and willing to face them head on.
Based in Melbourne, Florida and founded in March 2006, TWLOHA is a non-profit organization.
According to their website, TWLOHA is “dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.”
Now a junior at the University, Elijah Edwards founded the University’s chapter of TWLOHA in 2015 as a sophomore.
“I had seen that there were other mental health organizations here,” Edwards said, “however I did not see the aspect of the organization(s) that I respected most, which was actually providing avenues to treatment and recovery.”
Edwards said TWLOHA had a different “ethos” than other mental health organizations; it seemed more “personal” in relation to the people it was geared toward helping.
Edwards had to contact TWLOHA’s national office to get permission to start the University chapter because the organization is now a brand.
Even though the group title uses the “her” pronoun, TWLOHA is not exclusively geared toward helping women.
“It (targets) absolutely everybody,” said TWOLHA President Kamron Kazemi.
Though the organization aims to educate people on mental health and provide direction to those seeking help, they are not necessarily a support group.
“We’re not psychologists here,” said Kazemi. “We’re just people that want to help other people, direct them in the right path.”
In reality, one in ten students on our campus struggle with suicidal tendencies and even more struggle with depression,” said Edwards.
In a January 2016 article, USA Today reported that the CDC’s second leading cause of death among Americans ages 18-34 was suicide.
We want to (point people) in the right direction, like the Counseling Center for example,” said Delaney Borchers, TWLOHA’s publicist. “We want (people) to be aware that that’s where they can go to get help.”
As a newer organization on campus, TWLOHA has partnered with other groups, like the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Active Minds, dedicated to supporting those with mental illnesses.
TWLOHA holds weekly meetings on Monday at 8 p.m. in room 224 in the Math/Science building.
While their meetings are dedicated to discussions and testimonials on mental health, they also focus on organizing their annual benefit, which raises money for the national organization.
According to their website, TWLOHA has donated more than $1.5 million to 73 organizations for treatment and funding.
It’s a group of imperfect people trying to help an imperfect society,” Edwards said.
Even as a relatively new group, TWLOHA has already made an impact in Bowling Green. The group raised more than $1,000 in funds in 2015, which was distributed locally and nationally, said Edwards.
Kazemi said he hoped people would come to TWLOHA and leave knowing that “it’s okay (not) to be okay.”
Just as TWLOHA’s mission states “this is not the end of your story,” neither is it close to the end for the University’s chapter. It is only the beginning.
