Hi, my name is Natalie Salvatierra, I am 16 years old, and I am from California! I am the founder of Solely Sunshine, a mental health organization making a global impact by providing the opportunity for anyone in the world to write letters of encouragement for people with mental health conditions via our website www.solelysunshine.com. Besides being a founder, I am a hula-dancer, and I love to cook!
I started my organization in May 2020 because I learned that people with mental health conditions are struggling significantly more due to these unprecedented times. For example, people with an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) hand washing compulsion are facing greater challenges as they are trying to resist the urge to wash their hands. All of the COVID-19 hand washing reminders make it harder to fight the compulsion. Many people I care about have mental health conditions, so I wanted to help. It is important to me to spread some hope, love, and support to those people who may feel their world is ending. As a result, I created Solely Sunshine where letters of encouragement written by YOU on our website are sent to mental health facilities.
Since mid-May, Solely Sunshine has received almost 250 letters from our online submission form. We have also received letters from approximately 23 countries. Some include Oman, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, and South Africa!
I encourage you to help! It only takes a few minutes to make a big difference. All you have to do is go to my website, www.solelysunshine.com, and type a message on the “Write a Letter” page. No information is required. Press submit, and that’s it! From there, someone on my team transcribes your letter to paper and sends it off along with other letters to mental health facilities across the country. You can see samples of letters on my website or instagram @solely.sunshine.
It makes me happy to help others and to bring some sunshine to those in need. I believe it is easy to make a difference when you are passionate about something, so I hope you find your passion and make a difference too.
If you have any questions feel free to email me: [email protected].
1 Comment.
Yay! Thank you Sydnee!