RADical Hope Partners with Colleges to Empower Students with Skills to Build Resilience

Foundation Funds Groundbreaking RADical Health Initiative

to Enable Full Access 

New York, N.Y.  (September 15, 2021) – RADical Hope is meeting college students where they are – on campuses across the country – with a first-of-its-kind, skill-based resilience program that empowers them to work through life’s challenges before they reach a crisis point. The initiative, RADical Health, was developed and piloted last fall in partnership with New York University and will be scaled nationally by RADical Hope this academic year. The Foundation is funding RADical Health in full for every partner school.

Sixty-four percent of college students who drop-out leave because of mental health issues, according to a National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) survey. Delaware State University; Drew University; Fairfield University; New York University; Pace University; The University of Miami, and Wesleyan University are among at least a dozen schools that will bring the four-week RADical Health initiative to their students this academic year, with over 10,000 participants. Bank of America is a strategic partner, supporting the expansion of RADical Health to 20 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) over the next three years.

“Students arrive on campus needing mental, physical and emotional health skills,” said RADical Hope CEO Liz Feld. “RADical Health gets right to the heart of it by empowering them with tools and resources to build resilience. We engage with schools that have a demonstrated commitment to the overall wellness of their student community. Our early partners are leading the way.”

The Foundation will deliver the program completely free-of-charge to all partner schools with the goal of reaching one million students as soon as possible. The RADical Health Blueprint contains all the elements required for schools to execute the experience. The turnkey design of the program addresses the resource-constrained realities of higher learning institutions. In addition to full funding, RADical Health customizes an online platform for every school partner so students can use the program as an on-ramp to their own school’s resources and activities.

Learn more about RADical Health HERE.

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RADical Hope was founded by Pam and Phil Martin following the 2017 suicide of their son, Chris Martin, during his junior year at Gonzaga University. The Foundation is committed to addressing America’s youth mental health crisis by building resilience in young lives.