Create Hope.

I cannot change what happened. I can choose what I create from it.

Over the past year, someone I deeply loved experienced a serious mental health crisis while we were living in Colombia. It became one of the most difficult experiences of my life.

The crisis did not affect only one person. It changed our home, our relationship, our plans for the future, and eventually the course of our marriage. There were moments when I felt frightened, confused, helpless, and completely unsure of where to turn.

I learned firsthand that when a mental health crisis happens, the person struggling can feel incredibly alone—but so can the people who love them.

Families often do not know what to say. Partners do not know what to do. Friends may want to help but have no idea how. Everyone is carrying pain, fear, questions, and sometimes shame.

During that experience, I kept returning to the things that have helped me process life for as long as I can remember: my guitar, my camera, writing, drawing, painting, and storytelling.

Art did not erase what happened. It did not replace professional care. But it gave me somewhere to put the emotions I could not always explain. It helped me process what I was living through, reconnect with myself, and begin imagining that something meaningful could still be created from such a painful chapter.

Create Hope will use photography, music, painting, drawing, writing, storytelling, and other creative mediums to help people process difficult experiences, connect with their communities, and open honest conversations about mental health.

People will be invited to create in whatever medium feels natural to them, regardless of experience, income, diagnosis, language, or artistic ability. They may submit their work, share the meaning behind it, or record a short video telling their story and offering a message to someone else who may be struggling.

In October, we plan to bring Create Hope to life through two free community events: one in Michigan and one in Colombia.

This campaign is deeply personal to me, and I will lead these projects myself. But it is not about raising money for me.

It is about building something for the people who feel alone.

It is for the person who cannot yet find the words.
It is for the family that does not know where to turn.
It is for the artist who has never considered themselves an artist.
It is for anyone who needs a safe and meaningful way to express what they are carrying.