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MENTAL ILLNESS AWARENESS TOUR 2016

mentalillnessawarenesstour@gmail.com

Mental Illness Awareness Tour 2016

Alexander Vassiliadis, Nate Perez, Patrick Taylor

Goal

The goal of the MIA Tour is to diminish the stigma surrounding mental illness and to provide

people with resources to further their awareness on the topic.

Motivation

“My senior year of high-school my mother fell mentally sick. After a few manic episodes she went

through her first episode of psychosis and became delusional and paranoid. I was lost. I had absolutely

no idea what to do. I did not know where to turn for help. Nor had I exposed myself to something like this

before. The concept of it was non-existent for me. She has since gotten on a steady road of stable

recovery. We were all able to get through it. But this lack of knowledge along with the stigma

surrounding mental illness (focusing primarily on psychosis and schizophrenia), was something I

couldn’t stand for. So, I am doing something about it.”

-Alexander Vassiliadis

“I would like to bring this endeavor to fruition, not only to help myself fight through my own battles, but

also to help bring community awareness to the ill effects of mental illness. In many cases, the stigma

behind mental illness has prevented people from reaching out for help. Bringing attention to this issue

will help breakdown these walls, and will allow for people to receive the needed assistance to lead a more

fulfilling life.

-Nate Perez

“In the short life that I have lived, I have struggled with depression. I had always been an extremely

active individual, playing soccer, skateboarding, biking. I also had a very strong work ethic. I was always

working odd jobs, and putting in long hours at a local chicken restaurant, in which I acquired the

Chicken Car. During my senior year of high school, I quit playing Varsity soccer in the middle of the

season and had little motivation to work anymore. Moving forward a few months, there was a stressful

event that left me in a questionable state. On impulse, having never considered suicide, I attempted to

take my own life. I spent the next few months receiving mental health care and finding joy in the activities

I once enjoyed so much. Prior to this, I did not have any understanding or perception of mental illness.

There were students in my high school who attempted suicide in the years prior to my incident. I could

not imagine at that time how any person could make that choice, and certainly never imagined I would

lose myself in the same way. Many people are affected by different types of mental illness and I want to

talk about it, and resolve the stigma around it.”

-Patrick Taylor

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MENTAL ILLNESS AWARENESS TOUR 2016

mentalillnessawarenesstour@gmail.com

Achieving Our Goal

To achieve our goal, we will drive the “Chicken Car” through the continental United States. The

Chicken Car is bizarre enough to get attention from just about everyone while driving across the

country. The culture of the Chicken Car revolves around people stopping to take pictures,

inquiring about the car, and asking about what type of events it is involved in. We will rely on

this culture to promote our cause.

We will stop in certain cities and host brief events to discuss the goal of the trip. We will also

promote awareness through anecdotal lectures where we will speak about how mental illness has

affected our lives. These events will take place at destinations determined by us with the help of

partners and sponsors. At the events, we will discuss why people should consider learning more

about mental illness, provide resources and materials to the public that will further educate them

on the topic, and discuss the partnerships and sponsorships that have helped make the MIA Tour

feasible. The final step will be to encourage audiences to take initiative in promoting mental

illness awareness within their social circles.

The intention of this trip is to help stop the silence surrounding the topic. People tend to stay

quiet when faced with discourse on mental illness. Help us break this silence.

Promoting Awareness

Vlogs

We will be documenting the road trip with vlogs (video blogs) of each day’s events. These vlogs

will be uploaded to YouTube regularly so that people can virtually follow the trip. We will

document the scenic route including highlights of interactions with people that we meet while

promoting our cause. These vlogs will help document the thoughts and emotions experienced

through this intense trip to spread awareness for such a widespread issue in the United States.

These vlogs will open or close with brief mention of the partners and sponsors who made this

trip possible.

Social Media

The trip activities and goals will also be documented and discussed on the Chicken Car

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The current reach of these three social media sites is

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MENTAL ILLNESS AWARENESS TOUR 2016

mentalillnessawarenesstour@gmail.com

approximately 5,000 people, with an outreach of 10,000 people; but is expected to grow rapidly

as the MIA Tour gains notoriety and support.

In addition to the Chicken Car page, we will be promoting the ongoing event through its own

page “Mental Illness Awareness Tour” on Facebook and Instagram. These outlets will allow us

to interact with consumers during the trip, as well as during the months leading up to it.

Mini Web Series: Documenting Personal Mental Illness Stories

As our road trip comes into fruition and gains a following, we will begin to create a strong

relationship with the public. At this point, we will call for participants from various locations that

would want to be featured in a mini web series. Each episode will feature one of our participants

as they tell their story about their experience with mental illness. During the road trip, we will

meet with these participants and collaborate together to accurately tell their story. The web series

will then be uploaded on to our YouTube channel.

MIA Merchandise

Prior to the MIA Tour, we will create and purchase MIA Tour merchandise to be sold during the

tour. Merchandise will consist of MIA Tour t-shirts, hoodies, bandanas and stickers. This

merchandise will include the branding of sponsors who made the tour possible. A portion of the

revenue from merchandise sales will be donated to mental illness organizations.

These initiatives will provide a platform for a wider reach of the MIA Tour to consumers that are

not able to join in person. It will also increase exposure for our sponsors to advertise their

products/services and connect their brand to an event that benefits the community as a whole.

Timeline

The MIA Tour is expected to begin May 19, 2016 and will conclude in late July of 2016.

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MENTAL ILLNESS AWARENESS TOUR 2016

mentalillnessawarenesstour@gmail.com

Tour Route

The predictive map projecting the MIA Tour 2016 is subject to change.

Partnership

The MIA Tour 2016 is officially backed by National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) of

Champaign County and we anticipate further backing from their national chapter. In addition to

this, we are working to gain partnerships with other local and national organizations, such as the

American Psychologists Association, student counseling centers at universities, and municipal

mental health departments.

NAMI is the largest grassroots mental health organization in the United States dedicated to

building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. They are an

association of hundreds of localized affiliates, state organizations and volunteers who work in

separate communities to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not

previously available to those in need.

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MENTAL ILLNESS AWARENESS TOUR 2016

mentalillnessawarenesstour@gmail.com

Getting Involved

Donations

Donating will be one of the easiest ways to participate in the MIA Tour. Donations will be held

on Generosity.com under the name “Mental Illness Awareness Tour.” There will be several tiers

associated with different donation amounts. These tiers will correspond with various pieces of

merchandise that can be obtained. Further information about the tiers can be found online on the

Generosity website.

Volunteering

Volunteering can take place in several ways. One possible way to volunteer would be to be

present at an event if it takes place in a town near you. The more people that we have to support

the cause, the better. Volunteering may also include helping spread the MIA Tour’s publicity,

whether it be through social media or through community outreach or local media.

Spreading the Word

Spreading the word is another way to get involved in the MIA Tour. This could be as simple as

liking our Facebook page, following along with our vlogs on YouTube, or sharing our story. You

could also promote the cause via word of mouth, by bringing it up in conversation to others that

may be willing to show support. Spreading the word may also include sharing your story to

others, which would fulfill the end goal of diminishing the stigma around mental illness.

Contact Us

Contacting us would be another way to get involved. Our email is open for correspondence with

anyone who may want to reach out to us with their story, further sponsor the MIA Tour, or

simply say hi and check in with us on the tour. We are absolutely willing to listen to your story,

so please share it with us.

If you would like to get involved in any way, please feel free to reach out to us. Email will be the

easiest method of communication; our email is mentalillnessawarenesstour@gmail.com. We can

also be reached via social media on the MIA Tour Facebook page named Mental Illness

Awareness Tour. Your support in any way would be immensely appreciated. Thank you.