When Letters Save Lives.

Please note, some content in the video above could be triggering. The written article can be found here.

We first heard about the Letters to Noah campaign when TWLOHA received an email from a supporter asking us to send him a letter. Thirteen-year-old Noah had been struggling with bullying and depression, and his mom discovered he was planning suicide. While he was in the hospital, his mom asked people to mail letters of hope and encouragement to Noah. And as you can see in the video above, the response and its affect on Noah was overwhelming and inspiring.

After some discussion, we decided to send Noah a letter from the TWLOHA staff, and I was given the opportunity to write it. I shared with him how happy we were—how happy I was—that he was still alive. I know firsthand how difficult it can be to make that choice every day, sometimes having to make it every hour or every minute.

But Noah’s story, sadly, isn’t all that unusual. There are many people facing the same struggles Noah faced, and we hear from them every day in emails and through social media.

That’s why this news story and letters like the ones sent to Noah are important. People need other people, and they need to know those other people care about them. They need to know they are loved.

At TWLOHA, we do something similar with our Letters of Encouragement campaign, in which we send anonymous messages of hope to people in treatment centers. If you’re on our Street Team, you may be familiar with this project. If not, we’d still love to have you send in letters that we can pass on to those treatment centers. Send your letters to:

TWLOHA, Inc.
Attn: Letters of Encouragement
PO Box 2203
Melbourne, FL 32902

It took some boxes of heartfelt letters for him to realize it, but Noah was never alone, and neither are you.

—Emily