2022 In Review!

THIS is it; our first Annual Report! Complete with a snazzy design and official looking financials. We're all grown up now! And it's all part of our pursuit of a world without suicide.

This October is the 10 year anniversary of #Hope's first event. It's been a wild ride, and we're thankful for each one who donated, bought a shirt, booked us, or shared our resources with someone who's hurting. When people ask how it's going, I tell them it's both exciting and terrifying starting a charity. It's taken a lot of hard work to get to this point, but the impact we've been able to make in people's lives is undeniable. And we've only just begun!

We know that the mental health outlook for youth and young adults has gotten worse in the last few years, but we're on a mission to change that, with many ideas for how to expand our reach, increase our impact, and partner with other organizations. All of that will take hard work, more hands, and increased funding.

That's why we're inviting you to continue journeying with us. Our dreams for #Hope are very big and we know we cannot do this alone. 

Will you join us as we step forward into pursuing a world without suicide?

^^^ WHAT MARK SAID

But seriously, I can’t believe this is real. Hashtag Hope, the project I started out of the back of my car, with money I made from my kitchen job, is a full charity.

This past year we:
- Hired 2 full-time staff and a summer student.
- Got an officeBuilt a new outreach table experience for concerts, clubs, bars, etc.
- Started a Twitch streamer community
- Won a Hackathon - We built a small mental health crisis resource bot for Twitch streamers
- Held our first (and now annual) Twitch community fundraising event, called “I’m glad you’re still here”
- Developed a partnership with Grand River Hospital to support their youth mental health ward, which is likely to be our biggest program in 2023/2024
- Raised over $20k in our 2022 year end giving campaign.

Thank you to all the businesses, families, and individuals who supported it!Maxed out our event schedule, ending the year with Spring 2023 fully booked. I can’t wait for what the future holds for Hashtag Hope and I can’t thank you all enough for being on this journey with us. Come by the office for a sticker; we would love to have you.