Mission and Vision

Pay Love Forward's mission is to protect the mental health of at risk and underserved young people through leadership development, mentoring, and the development of compassionate communities. Research demonstrates that one of the most effective means of improving mental health is through developing protective factors (Breton et al., 2015). The presence of protective factors, including social and family connectedness, problem solving and coping strategies, and positive self-esteem (especially in the context of social support) reduces the risk of mental health conditions associated with severe depression, suicidal ideation, and intent (Layous, et al. 2014). The risk may be reduced by as much as 70%-85% when one or more of these are present (Wasserman et al., 2021). Pay Love Forward builds these communities where protective factors naturally occur, with the overall aim of getting young people involved, developing healthy community values based on a service orientation, training mentors and coaches through our certified mentor coach training, empowering our community to learn the skills necessary for positive engagement.

Pay Love Forward is based on a multiplication model to provide funding, scholarship, training, and promotion to leaders interested in building their own compassionate communities. The current operational community is Pay Climbing Forward, where we take young people ages 8 to 18 rock climbing, focusing on emotional regulation, goal setting, and a service orientation. We are currently in need of mentors to expand in new directions and are in the early stages of developing Pay Art Forward, Pay Tennis Forward, and Pay Dungeons and Dragons Forward as potential groups where young people can find the connection and meaning that results in improved mental health and lowers risk for suicide.

Breton, J. J., Labelle, R., Berthiaume, C., Royer, C., St-Georges, M., Ricard, D., ... & Guilé, J. M. (2015). Protective factors against depression and suicidal behaviour in adolescence. Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 60(2 Suppl 1), S5.

Layous, K., Chancellor, J., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). Positive activities as protective factors against mental health conditions. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 123(1), 3.

Wasserman, D., Carli, V., Iosue, M., Javed, A., & Herrman, H. (2021). Suicide prevention in childhood and adolescence: a narrative review of current knowledge on risk and protective factors and effectiveness of interventions. Asia‐Pacific Psychiatry, 13(3), e12452.