If you, or someone you know is in crisis, please call the Montgomery County Hotline 301-738-2255
or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273 -TALK (8255) or text HOME to 741741
working towards the day when no teen dies by suicide
Our Minds Matter (OMM) is a school-based, student led suicide prevention club. Currently there are more than 85+ OMM clubs, primarily in area high schools throughout Northern Virginia, DC and Maryland. Since 2012, Our Minds Matter has worked with over 100,000 students globally, expanded to over 75 clubs and grown to be the leading provider of adolescent peer-to-peer mental health programming in the DMV.
Based on recent research, OMM has been proven to
* reduce stigma
* increase help-seeking behaviors,
* promote social connectedness, and
* encourage self-care and healthy habits.
OMM employs staff to guide each school
through the process of starting a club, provide
materials and resources to facilitate OMM meetings, and provide phone support and technical
assistance as needed. Check out the program at www.ourmindsmatter.org.
In addition to being a powerful suicide prevention tool for young adults, OMM is offered free of
charge to high schools.
Funding for the program in Montgomery County, Maryland is provided solely by
The Devon C. Rubenstein Foundation.
Catherine Royston, Program Manager for OMM, explains OMM in detail during a recent MCPS Parent Academy meeting. Listen here...
The Buzz about OMM...
Jeanne McCormack, School Psychologist
Quince Orchard High School/Gaithersburg, MD
Recipient of 2019 Maryland State
School Psychologist of the Year Award
I wanted to just reiterate again what a wonderful experience it has been working with Our Minds Matters at QO! The program manager, Laura Beth is truly amazing and provides you with EVERY resource you could possibly need to start the club and help it thrive! I am so excited to see what QO does with the club next year and hope that we get a club at EVERY High School in MCPS so we can coordinate leadership efforts across the county to spread awareness, build coping skills, and break the stigma around mental illness together . . .
Thanks to the generosity of the Meltzer Family:
Alan, Amy, Jennifer, Edward, Elizabeth, Max, Tai, Mark & Kerry,
DCRF will be awarding an annual $12,000 Educational Scholarship
The Laurence M. Meltzer Scholarship
in memory of their brother/uncle who died by suicide in 2008.
DCRF is pleased to announce Nichele Washington as the first recipient of the
2021 Laurence M. Meltzer Scholarship. This Scholarship was created to recognize a Montgomery County public high school senior who actively participated in their school’s Our Minds Matter (“OMM”) program and demonstrated outstanding efforts in promoting
mental health awareness and suicide prevention.
Nichele’s essay was chosen over many worthy candidates for her honesty and bravery in discussing her own personal struggles with mental and emotional challenges and her road to mental stability through therapy. Nichele saw the value in accepting mental health help which propelled her to reach out to others who may be suffering in silence. Even through her panic attacks, depressive episodes and debilitating anxiety, she demonstrated extraordinary resilience and courage in being a fierce advocate for acceptance, awareness and education through her OMM club at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring.
Nichele will begin pursing a degree in Political Science at Spelman College in the
Fall of 2021. Her future plans include attending law school
with hopes of one day becoming a Civil Rights Lawyer.
Congratulations Nichele!