LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — A new mural is going up on the wall of Hughes Supply on Park Avenue to spread positivity and raise awareness for mental health.
Horizon Behavior Health, the HYPE club, and the Suicide Prevention Awareness Coalition came together to spread mental health awareness through this canvas of hope.
“The message we hope to spread through the mural, in my opinion, is that there is help out there if you ask,” Brianna Sparrow, a member of the HYPE club, said.
The HYPE club is a group of students from E.C. Glass and Heritage High School who have come together to combat substance abuse and spread mental health awareness. This new mural is one way of sharing that message.
Dannie Snyder, a volunteer for the Suicide Prevention Awareness Coalition, led these students through designing the mural.
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“How can we combine these ideas that says something to the community that’s actually going to inspire change in behavior and attitudes,” Snyder said.
Members of the community were welcomed to join the HYPE club in painting the mural today. Snyder said allowing the community to help opened doors to conversation about mental health.
The HYPE club hopes that people who see the mural will have empathy for those struggling with mental health and come together to support each other.
“If we’re coming along as a community, we can all really help each other and kind of hold hands with each other and like get each other through the process,” Adrianna Sparrow, a member of the HYPE club, said.
Snyder said that she hopes this can be an ongoing project and that they can fill the entire wall with more artwork with messages of hope.