Jewel Plays Big Role In World Mental Health Day Summit & Concert

By Steve McLean 10/8/21 | www.samaritanmag.com

Jewel — photo credit: Dana Trippe.
Singer-songwriter Jewel and her mental health non-profit, Inspiring Children Foundation (ICF), have partnered with The Wellness Experience by Kroger for the second annual World Mental Health Day Summit & Concert on Oct. 10.

The free event will benefit ICF and One Mind, a mental health non-profit involved with brain research with a strategy of accelerating discoveries, scaling implementation and transforming societal culture. 

The event’s goal is to democratize wellness by bringing physical, emotional and mental health to the masses in a fun and creative way. It will include music performances, celebrity conversations, workouts with fitness experts and cooking demonstrations.

Jewel will host the event and perform along with Alejandro Sanz, Nicky Jam, Quinn XCII, CG5, Lydia Knight, Hunter Hayes and Pat Monahan.

They’ll be joined by the likes of: Dancing with the Stars' Cheryl Burke; Alaska The Last Frontier’s Atz Kilcher; Olympic gold medallist Laurie Hernandez; actress Tabitha Brown; former.congressman Patrick Kennedy; One Mind co-founder Ryan Wolfington; ICF co-founder Dr. Blaise Aguirre; and others.

The live stream will be available on The Wellness Experience by Kroger website, the World Mental Health Day Summit & Concert website and the ICF Facebook page. The summit starts at 5 p.m. EST and the concert begins two hours later.

The ICF’s mission is to revolutionize education by providing a model of youth development — co-created by children for children — that includes mental health programming in underserved communities. It involves a holistic approach that includes physical, emotional and mental health

The ICF’s online, phone and in-person ecosystem of healing and growth includes programs that emphasize the need for: emotional intelligence; social emotional learning; mindfulness and meditation; dialectical behaviour therapy; trauma therapy; informed care; group mental health counselling and mentoring; leadership development; entrepreneurial skills; nutrition; yoga; sports; sleep science; and academics.

The foundation’s leadership empowers youth to co-create and run 80 percent of the programs, believing it develops know-how, an understanding of themselves and confidence.

“We are giving them the same tools that helped me go from an abusive background, moving out at 16, and being homeless, to becoming a happy whole human,” said Jewel in a media release.

“I know how much people struggle to feel the healing and internal permission needed to become an architect of your own life, instead of the backseat driver of one you were born into. I believe there are every-day solutions that can help other people find peace of mind and live an extraordinary life.”

The Wellness Experience by Kroger, co-founded by Jewel, is a virtual wellness platform and multi-day festival experience with a whole human approach to inspiring physical, emotional and mental health. The Wellness Experience platform provides free healthy-living resources to help customers take actionable steps toward making their lives healthier and easier.

In addition to selling more than 30 million albums since 1995, Jewel’s involvement in mental health advocacy also extends to her Never Broken website that shares tools to try and help people calm anxiety and find resilience, happiness and success.

The objective of World Mental Health Day is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilize efforts in support of mental health. It provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.

World Mental Health Day is an initiative of the World Health Organization, a United Nations agency that connects nations, partners and people to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable so people everywhere can attain the highest level of health. 

* Samaritanmag.com is an online magazine covering the good deeds of individuals, charities and businesses.