Sally didn't think she would ever be able to make a difference and she certainly didn't think she'd make a difference by the age of 18. Yet here she was, about to get a commendation for her app, Talk2Me. She fidgeted nervously as the ceremony went on.
Sally had always been a bit of a loner, which was mostly fine, but she began to really struggle in high school. The new pressures of new faces, new classes, new clubs, new things to plan for, and new social situations all began to press down on her. It wasn't that she had no friends, she certainly had a few good ones, but she didn't feel like she could reach out to them or her family. Everything had just felt like too much and it seemed like everyone else was doing just fine. So she pretended she was just fine and things just kept getting worse.
Eventually, Sally realized that she could be depressed and, regardless of if she was or not, needed help, but didn't know where to turn. She struggled to find resources in her area and didn't know what the steps were to even get the kind of help she wanted. She did, luckily, finally get up the courage to talk to her parents about it and they helped her navigate the whole process of finding a therapist.
When she started to do better, she thought about how great it would be to have an app that housed all of the information she had been looking for. She gathered her friends and told them about everything and they all agreed to help. They collected a ton of data, first just in their area, but then spread to their state and beyond of therapists, support groups, life skills classes, and crisis supports. They organized each resource by who they were focused on helping as well as who they could help (this sometimes meant different ages or genders or sexualities or religions or races or classes or spoken languages). They also made an interactive map of all of these resources and set up filters so you could find, if you wanted, all of the anxiety support groups offered in your area in Chinese. They also had some guides available for figuring out what kind of help you need and how to get it.
At first, Talk2Me didn't get much traction, but that hadn't mattered to Sally or her friends. They all had agreed early on that if all of the work had helped even one person, it was more than worth it. Slowly though, it began to grow and the network expanded and they maps became more accurate. Then, Sally had the idea to have users get actively involved with helping others when she saw how creating the app had helped her and her friends.
Talk2Me really improved once they were able to link up with one of the crisis centers and organize training so that users could also become guides to help others navigate the process of getting help. This took a little while to work out, but it was a great improvement to the app once all of the bugs and confidentiality policies were worked out.
Now, here Sally and her friends were, about to be thanked by their mayor for their efforts. They were all going to get a key to the city.
Sally had never been better.
(Prompt by Sonia Soto)
Sally had always been a bit of a loner, which was mostly fine, but she began to really struggle in high school. The new pressures of new faces, new classes, new clubs, new things to plan for, and new social situations all began to press down on her. It wasn't that she had no friends, she certainly had a few good ones, but she didn't feel like she could reach out to them or her family. Everything had just felt like too much and it seemed like everyone else was doing just fine. So she pretended she was just fine and things just kept getting worse.
Eventually, Sally realized that she could be depressed and, regardless of if she was or not, needed help, but didn't know where to turn. She struggled to find resources in her area and didn't know what the steps were to even get the kind of help she wanted. She did, luckily, finally get up the courage to talk to her parents about it and they helped her navigate the whole process of finding a therapist.
When she started to do better, she thought about how great it would be to have an app that housed all of the information she had been looking for. She gathered her friends and told them about everything and they all agreed to help. They collected a ton of data, first just in their area, but then spread to their state and beyond of therapists, support groups, life skills classes, and crisis supports. They organized each resource by who they were focused on helping as well as who they could help (this sometimes meant different ages or genders or sexualities or religions or races or classes or spoken languages). They also made an interactive map of all of these resources and set up filters so you could find, if you wanted, all of the anxiety support groups offered in your area in Chinese. They also had some guides available for figuring out what kind of help you need and how to get it.
At first, Talk2Me didn't get much traction, but that hadn't mattered to Sally or her friends. They all had agreed early on that if all of the work had helped even one person, it was more than worth it. Slowly though, it began to grow and the network expanded and they maps became more accurate. Then, Sally had the idea to have users get actively involved with helping others when she saw how creating the app had helped her and her friends.
Talk2Me really improved once they were able to link up with one of the crisis centers and organize training so that users could also become guides to help others navigate the process of getting help. This took a little while to work out, but it was a great improvement to the app once all of the bugs and confidentiality policies were worked out.
Sally had never been better.
(Prompt by Sonia Soto)
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