Making mental health care accessible.
Founded by the team at Chubbies, Foundation 43 is on a mission to expand access to effective mental health care and suicide prevention within historically marginalized communities, with a particular focus on funding organizations built by and for the communities they serve.
Photo credit: Active Minds Chapter, Northwestern University
Our mission.
Foundation 43 was named for our 43 facial muscles, one of many ways we convey (or conceal) our emotions. We know that mental health is more than just helping folks feel happy or relaxed - we envision a world in which everyone is free to use the 43 muscles of the face to express the full range of emotions that make us our beautiful and dynamic selves.
Today’s mental health data reveals a stark reality for millions: nearly 1 in 5 adults and nearly half of all young people in the US live with a mental illness, but due to a variety of factors only half of people experiencing mental illness ever receive treatment.
We say enough is enough: Mental health care is a basic human right and everyone seeking it must have access to effective, aligned care.
Foundation 43 envisions a world in which people are free to heal in ways that resonate with each of us. We pledge to speak openly about mental health to chip away at stigma and shine a bright light on the ways in which systemic inequities like racism, homophobia, transphobia, and sexism impact wellbeing.
We’re proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our partner organizations to help shift the statistics and connect more people with lifesaving resources. Each grantee is tackling different aspects of mental health, and we’re humbled to fund their community-led programs.
Our partners.
The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning) young people.
The organization works to save young lives by providing support through free and confidential suicide prevention and crisis intervention programs on platforms where young people spend their time: their 24/7 phone lifeline, chat, and text. They also run TrevorSpace, the world's largest safe space social networking site for LGBTQ youth, and operate innovative education, research, and advocacy programs. Our grant supports their mission and
life-saving work.
Black Men Heal
Black Men Heal provides access to mental health treatment, psycho-education, and community resources to men of color. Since 2018, their innovative work has helped connect hundreds of men with culturally responsive clinicians thanks to their thoughtful matching criteria. Our grant supports their mission and programming, which includes expanding to new cities, developing new partnerships with counselors, and growing their King’s Corner peer support group.
Headstrong
Headstrong provides bureaucracy-free, stigma-free, confidential, and best-in-class mental health treatment for veterans and military-connected families. Our grant supports its mission and programming, which aims to increase veterans’ access to high-quality, trauma-informed mental health care. Headstrong’s network of trauma-informed clinical partners provides individualized, evidence-based outpatient care to help clients triumph over trauma. Learn more about their mission and how they're helping those in need.
Active Minds
Active Minds promotes mental health for young adults in high schools, on college campuses, in workplaces and in the community, driving change in the culture around mental health. With our support of their mission, Active Minds is equipping young people with tools to speak openly about struggles, confidently seek help when it is needed, and support their peers.
SeekHer Foundation
SeekHer Foundation, an advocacy project of WellSeek, is on a mission to bridge the gender gap in mental health through advocacy, research, and support for emerging leaders who are impacting change in their local communities & beyond. In partnership with their advocates and allied organizations, SeekHer is creating an ecosystem of change through community care — one where girls & women are empowered by an equalized society that wants them to thrive.
Foundation 43 is proud to join forces as a Giving Back Partner and ally to amplify advocacy for women’s health. Our grant will directly support SeekHer’s programming to uplift diverse mental health practitioners, specifically through the SeekHer Scholars program, which offers leadership training, continuing education, and mentorship to care providers as they serve women and underrepresented groups within their communities.
To learn more about Chubbies, our corporate sponsor and purveyor of the Friday at 5pm Feeling, visit chubbiesshorts.com