Encouragemint
Encouragemint was formed in 2012 and obtained 501(c)(3) status in August of 2014. After struggling to raise funds through grants and donations, the difficult decision to shut things down was made. Below you'll find some information about what Encouragemint once was, along with some of the resources that the site previously offered.
Support Forums | Community Service | Positive News | Resource Overview | Resource List | Immediate Help
Emotional Support Forums
The Encouragemint Forums were a place where people came together online to post about worries, concerns, fears, and basically any difficult situation or issue a person might be dealing with. Others would then come along and provide support, encouragement, and suggestions. The forums were a true community and well received by its user base.
Community Service Projects
Encouragemint Projects were a series of community service events organized at the local level.
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the northeastern United States. Encouragemint pulled together a group of volunteers who cleaned up debris from backyards and cleaned out two basements; one had flooded and had major water damage, while the other had collected over six feet of sand. We also collected donations for families displaced by the storm, many of whom were without power for weeks.
We also visited a no-kill animal shelter outside of Philadelphia, PA to raise awareness for the work being done by a mother and daughter team with a particular love for cats and other animals. Our hope was to raise money or find a plumber who would be willing to provide free or discounted services in order to get water to the barn where they kept the animals. At the time they were carrying buckets of water back and forth from the house next door to keep the place clean and provide the animals something to drink.
Click the image above to watch a short video filmed after we dropped off some clothing and toys for a family that had taken in others displaced by the storm.
Click the image above to watch an interview with the founder of Pawsibilities Animal Rescue shelter as we're granted an inside look at their facilities.
Words of Encouragemint & Positive News
Words of Encouragemint were a series of positive and uplifting articles aimed, as the title suggests, at encouraging people who might need a little motivation. The website also provided a series of positive news stories in an effort to provide an alternative to all of the negative news we all so frequently hear.
Examples include Jeremy Henwood, a police officer who paid for a teen's cookies and offered encouragement moments before he was killed, a restaurant patron who anonymously paid the bill for a distraught woman who had just received an unfortunate medical diagnosis, Delroy Simmonds who missed his interview because he jumped onto the subway tracks to pull a child in a stroller to safety, Julio Diaz, who was sensing the desperation of the person mugging him offered not only his money, but his coat and a warm meal, along with a trio of inmates who while behind bars witnessed Deputy Warren Hobbs having a medical emergency and managed to find a way to get him help.
Psychological Resources
The site also provided explanations of mental health diagnoses in everyday language, additional articles such as a summary on the mental health system, lists of common psychological definitions and abbreviations, and a resource directory. Click here to see an abbreviated version of the former list.
If you are feeling unsafe, suicidal, or otherwise having active or current thoughts about wanting to hurt yourself or someone else please call 911. Just need to talk? Call 988. Learn more.
You can also learn about filing a report of abuse or neglect including how to do it and what to expect, as well as read about helping someone facing domestic violence.