Project LETS at Penn
About Us
We are a chapter of Project Let’s Erase the Stigma, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to providing inclusive communities for individuals with mental illness. LETS focuses on peer support, advocacy efforts, and policy change, and views mental illness through an oppression-based framework. At Penn, we address ableism in academia through community care, activism, and our Peer Mental Health Advocate (PMHA) program. We love allies, but our chapter meetings are exclusively for folks with lived experience!
Who are we?
Project LETS at Penn was started in the mid-2017 by Lauren Drake and Rylee Park, two undergraduates who wanted to create a space for people with lived mental illness experiences. Since then, we have grown into a loving community for Penn students. The Project LETS at Penn family includes board members, Peer Mental Health Advocates (PMHAs), and general body members.
Our Peer Mental Health Advocate Program
Peer Mental Health Advocates (PMHAs) are students with lived experience of mental illness, trauma, disability, and/or neurodivergence who are trained to work one-on-one with peers in long-term peer support and advocacy partnerships. These partnerships are long-term, free, and confidential.
To learn more about the PMHA program, request a PMHA, or apply to become a PMHA, check out the PMHA page on our site.
About the LETS National Chapter
In October 2009, Brittany Marie Petrocca of East Meadow, New York, lost her life to suicide. After being a part of the aftermath, it was clear that the community was devastated and hurting. However, the stigma surrounding suicide and mental illness is so negative, that nobody wanted to talk about it. A school of fourteen-year-olds did not know how to handle this kind of situation, and events like these take place every single day. This was when our founder recognized the lack of awareness and education within the community and began her work for Project LETS. To erase the stigma and to commemorate the lives we have lost in these honorable ways, we must talk and spread awareness. We must never, ever, stay silent.
We believe everybody has a fundamental right to access help and treatment. We understand we're not professionals, but we are the people this affects. The ones living with mental illness - every day of our lives. Each of us have valuable insight to pass along, and know who to point you towards if the situation requires more help than we can provide. This is why we believe so fundamentally in the power of Peer Support.
Brittany Marie, we don't forget you. We are here, honoring your memory.