Main Photo Description: Picture from 5th Annual Transgenerational Trauma conference in Amman Jordan, where our Founder was a speaker. The Speakers and Attendees carry signs for the countries they represent: Norway, Italy, Palestine, Jordan, Germany, USA.

Updates and Progress (2/16/2017):

Thank you to all our donors and supporters! We are so close to reaching the half way mark of the Life in My Days campaign. The Life in My Days Board of Directors will be matching the largest donation, on the final day of thecampaign. Please consider alarger donation, or share us with any businesses or organizations you may know that would be willing to donate at the higher levels. So far we do not have any donations at the $250, $500, and $1,000 levels. This would be an excellent opportunity to create a new partnership with Life in My Days.

With the money we have raised thus far, here is what we have accomplished:

1) Applying for 501(c)3 status: We are looking forward to becoming a non-profit!

2) Starting the website update/upgrade: This is a HUGE one! Our goal is to create user-friendly, virtual space for writers and readers, with increased contributors. In addition, the website will also be accessible to individuals with disabilities. We want our supporters to be able to follow our events/programs.

Interested incontributing? Great! Click here to learn how you can share your story!

Here's what is next:
1) The team: We are working on pulling together both funding and personnel for a paid team that can help attain our goals and expand our range of work.
2) Program and events: With a staff comes programs and events. We will be expanding our programming capacity and are looking for partners. Which means, you will be hearing a lot more from us!

Help Write Our Story

Support the launch of the Life in My Days, Inc. as a non-profit and help sponsor a social change platform that educates and trains on issues of mental health/disability stigma, social justice advocacy, inter-communal empathy and recovery. 

From 1 Blog to a Platform for 50,000  

Life in My Days began as personal blog in 2016, written by Ahmad Abojaradeh, as an experience-sharing virtual platform for individuals who have experienced trauma, disabilities, micro-aggressions, hate, or mental illness. 

Over the last year, Life in My Days has grown to have an international following of over 50,000 individuals who turn to the platform as a safe space, free of stigma and judgement. Having such a platform is vital amongst communities that typically sweep dirty laundry under the rug, particularly in a time of rising negative experiences. Over the last few months, Ahmad has recruited a team of innovative activists and social change professionals to help Life in My Days grow from a single person run website to a non-profit that will host workshops and trainings, offer individual peer-support, and build stronger and healthier communities. This next stage of becoming a recognized 501(c)3 organization with a strong staff and Board of Directors will allow us to foster healing, growth, and resiliency within more communities.

Recognizing the Problem in Our Communities

In any given year, 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness in the US. For certain communities, the problem becomes exacerbated due to the stigma associated with mental illness. Life in My Days began as a platform to explicitly share the experience of the Founder, Ahmad Abojaradeh, in dealing with mental illness and the subsequent stigma so that others may find a path to healing through his experiences:

"Growing up, I didn't know a single person with a mental illness, which is probably why no one recognized it in me. In my mind, something was wrong with me. It wasn't until 18 years later that I met someone like me, a Muslim, who also had a mental illness. Throughout my work for the past 4 years, as a Peer Support Specialist and a Speaker, I have found the most common theme within communities to be that many individuals living with mental illness, or who have gone through traumatic experiences, believe they are alone and that they are the problem. I created Life In My Days to address this challenge, so that individuals who are struggling know that it is not their fault and that they are not alone, as I so often felt."

Ahmad Abojaradeh (Founder of Life in My Days) is a Certified Peer Support Specialist who has supported dozens of Muslims and Non-Muslims to take charge of their lives and heal from past trauma's. He has conducted workshops and speaking events for over 2000 individuals, and tens of communities, both nationally and internationally about Mental Health, Support, Development, and Social Justice.

The Production Team

We are a diverse team of 8 professionals who are all bringing our passion, skills, and effort to build Life in My Days. Our team consists of deans, professors, engineers, managers, farmers, directors, writers, speakers, activists, coffee specialists, musicians, and many more things. Most of us have been involved with multiple non-profits and have, independently, been involved in successfully starting half a dozen non-profits and organizations. Our goal to create stronger communities and individuals has brought us together and we are looking forward to watching the Life in My Days network grow.  

The Story So Far

Our initial goal is to raise $5,000 to cover the bare-minimal costs of launching Life in My Days, Inc. enabling us to pay for:

• Filing for 501(c)3 status
• Initial Operational Costs, which includes re-branding and updating the virtual platform
• Workshop 1 Planning: Recovering from the mental health implications of Islamophobia 

Over the last year we have:

• Conducted trainings on pro-social by-stander on sexual assault, Islamophobia, Racism, Micro-Aggression, Mental Health, and Disabilities 
  
• Mentored and/or Peer Supported ten individuals and supported them in sharing their stories in a healthy way that promotes healing and growth.
• Conducted workshops on social justice and mental health
• Conducted inclusion and diversity trainings
• Conducted workshops and trainings in Amman, Jordan on self-help and coping, elements of support, and story-sharing panel 
• Conducted workshops on story-sharing to teach individuals how to share stories of past experiences in order to promote healing and growth
• Conduct belonging workshops on promoting understanding and empathy between diverse communities
• Consulted and trained 1500+ people in the US and internationally

Help Us Write the Next Chapter:

1. Donate today and help us fund the creation of a life changing space for healing and growth. 

2. Share this campaign, and why it's important with your family and friends. 

3. Sign up for our newsletter on lifeinmydays.com, and like us on Facebook and Twitter. 

4. Share your experiences on lifeinmydays.com.

5. Bring us to speak with your groups. 

6. Destigmatize our communities and create safe spaces.