The Jed Foundation

The Jed Foundation
Founded 2000
Key people Phil and Donna Satow
Area served United States
Focus Suicide prevention, Mental illness
Mission "to reduce the rate of suicide and the prevalence of emotional distress among college and university students"
Method Education
Website www.jedfoundation.org

The Jed Foundation is a non-profit organization working to reduce the rate of suicide and the prevalence of emotional distress among college and university students. It is the largest such effort in the United States and it has partnered with the government program, Suicide Prevention Resource Center, to develop and spread suicide prevention strategies.

Contents

History

The Jed Foundation was founded in 2000 by Donna and Phil Satow after their son Jed, a college sophomore at the University of Arizona, ended his life after struggling with college life.[1] The organization works in collaboration with the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, set up in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.[2]

Campaigns

ULifeline was The Jed Foundation's first program to help colleges address the problem of suicide among college students. The program creates an easier way for college students can find information regarding mental health.[3]

Half of Us is a Peabody Award-winning awareness campaign launched in 2006. Partnered with mtvU and over 1,300 colleges, the program discusses the statistic that half of all college students struggle with depression at one point during their college career. Many celebrities, including Mary J. Blige, Pete Wentz, and Brittany Snow, participated in the effort.[4]

Love is Louder is a widespread outreach program started by actress Brittany Snow and MTV after a number of highly profiled teenage suicides caused by bullying in September 2010. A number of celebrities including some who had been personally affected by bullying in their youth, spoke out openly in videos broadcast on mtvU and YouTube.[5] In 2011, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, and Victoria Justice teamed with Seventeen magazine to join the campaign to help teenagers cope with personal struggles.[6][7]

References

External links