COLBERT, Wash.—When you hear the word ‘lighthouse,’ you probably imagine a tall tower along a waterway, not ‘The Light House’ shed in Angella Southerly’s yard. But she’s using that lighthouse to shine a light for hundreds of students in the Spokane area.
“In The Light House, we have probably a couple hundred (mental) health packs,” Angella said.
Hundreds of ‘mental health packs’ fill the shelves of her shed from floor to ceiling, bags full of items like bracelets that say ‘never give up,’ mugs that say ‘this is a we thing, not a me thing,’ and journals that include a custom sticker on the inside listing support resources. Angella hopes these packs will help local students cope with whatever struggle sent them to their school counselor’s office.
“In a school year we support 850 kids, so that’s over 16-hundred packs because they get an initial and a follow-up, so the counselor follows up with them,” Angella said. “Children and teens struggling with anxiety, depression, or feelings of hopelessness…this is a vulnerable group that got our attention. Since the pandemic, we’re really seeing a lot of this increase in self-harm or harm to others, so we knew we needed to do something.”
Angella says her background in health care and education, working in a health room at an elementary school, helped inspire this project, which has been providing more than 800 Spokane area students with mental health packs for three school years now and is working to expand.
“Seventeen schools are supported by our program through Mead, Spokane, Spokane Valley, Medical Lake, and this fall we are going to support Reardon School District and Tekoa School District as well,” Angella said.
That mission to support students’ well-being takes a village of support, too. In addition to the volunteers who help her create and deliver these bags to local schools, Angella said many of the items are donated or sponsored by local businesses.
“We look for businesses or people that would like to sponsor a school, that’s how we can continue to do this and keep it growing,” Angella said. “For one school year, it’s only $2,300 for the whole year.”
Patti Weishaar, Shaw Middle School’s Community Specialist, says the school receives ten mental health packs a month, and she sees them making an impact.
“The most amazing thing about it is our students are coming to us, to either the counselors, mental health therapist, or myself, because they’re struggling with something….so to be able to visit with them but also give them something tangible that they take away, knowing that not only does their school community care about them, but our Spokane community cares about them,” Patti said.
Patti said that the Northeast Community Center and Awaken Spokane Church are Shaw Middle School’s sponsors for these bags.
Angella hopes the bags full of items will help ‘break down walls’ between school employees and the students seeking help.
“When that student comes in, they’re in a traumatic state, walls are up,” Angella said. “Then as they’re opening this, their walls are coming down, they’re relaxing, so that’s that tool aspect for mental health professionals.”
It’s just one way Angella Southerly’s ‘Light A Lamp’ nonprofit is spreading light and love around our community.
This Friday, June 28, is Light A Lamp’s biggest fundraiser for restocking items like those ordered for the mental health packs. It is also an opportunity for the public to learn more about Angella’s mission and the various work her nonprofit does around the Inland Northwest.
The “Light Up The Night’ 4th Annual Silent Auction fundraiser program will run from 7-9 p.m. Inside Barrister Winery of Downtown Spokane, with doors opening at 6 p.m.
You can register for the event at https://auction.ilfmedia.com/auction/2024-light-a-lamp/
