Call Us MENTAL: A Photo Storytelling Project
Dork Dancing & Olga Photography are coming together in the shared mission to overcome challenges in mental health. One of the biggest challenges in this field is yes, stigma. Stigma kills. It’s the difference between speaking up & laying low. Between releasing the pain or keeping it. For some, between life & death.
Challenges in mental health are heavy. If there’s something we can do about these challenges, we are interested in the fight.
That’s why YOU can Call Us MENTAL. We are a community of mental health advocates breaking free, fighting for a cause we believe in. We are doing this not only with the grown confidence found in our feet —through dancing— but with our words too.
We are inspired by a mission to normalize struggles in mental health, so we are openly sharing our stories, narrating pain & celebrating growth. You can judge us all you want. Call Us MENTAL — but never can you define us. This is our story to tell.
Mental health challenges aren't just about mental illness. It’s about everything that surrounds the ups and downs of life: how are you doing, really? Life is hard, full of pain. To be human, to be alive, means to face MENTAL struggle.
Hiding our MENTAL struggles gives us the illusion that it’s not normal to have them, but often it’s difficult. There isn’t space to share, connect & grow. Hard to find community, or people, that might really care. Here, we do our best to support.
We are collecting these stories from those who engage most with us, from “Dedicated Dork Dancers,” a group of people who are actively advocating for mental health through dance.
These people have attended our events 10 or more times. These are the people you will learn about in this photo storytelling project, those who want to make a statement. Dedicated dork dancers are making the most impact for our cause & community.
Here you can learn their stories: Call Olga MENTAL. Call Thai MENTAL. Call Ethan MENTAL. Call Lan MENTAL. Call Mily MENTAL. Call Sierra MENTAL. Call Lani MENTAL.
Dork Dancing depends entirely on charitable giving. We hope you may consider supporting. We offer some fun rewards too.