A Letter from the Founder
Grace and Peace to you, My name is Miracle Nored, the founder of LWSC Community Circle and a Trauma Recovery Coach & Mental Health First Aid Instructor at Building Beyond Barriers. I felt compelled to explain the origins of our "My Mental Health Matters" campaign so that you can support and understand the need to make your mental health a priority.
In Loving Memory Joyce Mallett
Please note that parts of this letter may trigger emotions as I speak openly about my own experiences. If you'd rather avoid this, feel free to skip the next two paragraphs for your emotional safety.
The My Mental Health Matters campaign in collaboration with Building Beyond Barriers & Young Voices Action Collective was launched in May 2023 and is something that is deeply personal to me. Growing up, I witnessed my mother battling mental health challenges throughout my life. Despite her struggles, and the many years of being a prisoner to her pain, she tried her best to be present for me and my siblings. However, my mom, Joyce Mallett, made her transition gracefully and in peace on 11/1/2022. It’s my belief that though the cause of death was a decline in her physical health, the underlying issue was due to decades of unresolved trauma, which manifested as acute mental health challenges that negatively impacted her physical health and overall well-being. Although she experienced what I term as "many mini miracles" and moments of joy in her final years, the burden of untreated trauma and mental health challenges took its toll on her, and her last words to me were, "Miracle, I'm tired."
In my teenage years, I faced my own battles, including experiencing various traumatic events such as child abuse and sexual abuse, resulting in early parenthood. The mental torment and the aftermath of the trauma I experienced, along with the stress of life at such a young age, led me to wanting to escape the pain through my attempt to die by suicide at 14. Thankfully, I didn’t succeed, and I now realize that there are so many options for help if we would just ask.
As a young parent with multiple children, I realized I was unknowingly mirroring to some degree my mother's struggles due to unresolved trauma, lack of education on mental health, and lack of known available resources to heal and recover.
The aftermath of my unhealed trauma and mental health challenges led me to a season of substance use to cope with the pains of my past, which inadvertently affected my parenting and negatively affected my children during their crucial developmental stages.
Becoming my mother's caregiver shed light on my limitations and how the aftermath of our traumatic experience was affecting me, my mom, and my children, as well as how it was affecting our ability to cope with life challenges and the inadequacies within the healthcare system's approach in addressing mental health in our community.
After sitting in over 100 ineffective therapy sessions with my mom and becoming more and more frustrated with their approach to her mental health challenges, I grew a passionate desire and curiosity as to what was missing. I couldn't understand how my mom couldn't get the breakthrough that she so desperately needed to live a better quality of life. I began taking classes and studying about emotional and mental health, and I became fixated on understanding childhood trauma and how it affects our brains, behavior, and beliefs. I learned the importance of trauma-informed care and became a better advocate for her. This experience not only improved my caregiving skills and helped my mom "Rejoyce" more, but it initiated my own journey of healing and the process of recovering from my traumatic experiences. It gave me the courage to take responsibility for the unintentional trauma I caused my own children, while simultaneously healing and helping me overcome mommy issues.
Understanding the profound impact of trauma on mental health, I realized the urgent need to raise awareness on how unhealed trauma affects our mental health, the importance of ending the stigma through education, and empowering adults and youth. This led me to become a certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor & Trauma Recovery Coach, and it is what has inspired me to develop a comprehensive trauma-informed parenting and leadership curriculum to educate parents, caregivers, youth, and others in the community about the negative impact of unresolved trauma and empowering them with knowledge and tools needed to proactively prioritize their mental health and help others do the same.
I strongly believe that the impact we are making through our My Mental Health Matters campaign is inspiring a greater level of hope in humanity and empowering individuals to pursue emotional and mental wellness with a proactive approach, instead of waiting to react to crises in ways that do more harm than help.
By continuing to educate and empower our youth and the adults who care for them with the tools to navigate emotional and mental health challenges in the healthiest way possible, we can reduce teen suicide and substance use, increase counseling over criminalization, and foster healing and resilience. Your support is greatly needed so that we can continue building capacity.
There are several ways you can support, please go to www.lwsc3.org/gala you can join us at the A Night to Rejoyce Gala, sponsor a ticket for someone else or be a corporate sponsor or simply make a donation to help support the campaign initiative.