FIGHTING MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA ONE BRUSHSTROKE AT A TIME

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honorees Gabby Wong and Joshua Ferriere. Read their story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

While their journey may have been sparked by tragedy, Gabby Wong and Joshua Ferriere are creating something beautiful.

As high school students in the San Gabriel Valley, Gabby and Joshua witnessed the effects the horrific 2023 Monterey Park shooting had on their community. To ameliorate the mental health crisis in the school system, the duo formed Therapicasso, a youth-led organization that uses art as a strategic tool to forge a sense of community through creativity. Art workshops focus on mental health-related topics, like healthy coping mechanisms and minimizing stigma. Student programming serves as a platform for healthy, open discussions, providing young people with a safe space to discuss their journeys while also expressing their sense of individuality. With every art workshop, open mic session and community event, the Therapicasso team works to empower the youth around them. Whether they’re raising funds to host more events, growing their community on social media, or creating program partnerships that have affected over 14,000 students within the Alhambra Unified School District, the healing power of Therapicasso’s work is clear.

Gabby and Joshua’s dedication to turning a horrific tragedy into a force for good is an inspiring call to action for anyone looking to make change within their own community. Through the creation of Therapicasso, these powerful youth advocates have created something special that serves as a testament to volunteering’s ability to enact change.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

Joshua: In 2023 January, we sat down together at a cafe right after the Monterey Park tragedy that happened at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio shooting in our community. We were talking about how we could let our perspective be known. Gabby and I realized that we had a lot of free time. We had a shared passion for art and mental health, and we decided to co-found Therapicasso.

Gabby: We knew we wanted to address mental health and intergenerational stigma because, within our community, we realized that both the cause and the effect of the Monterey Park shooting was intergenerational stigma. When I say the cause and the effect, I mean the fact that we were not conversing with the older generation, who were the main victims of the shooting. Then the effect was that a lot of the younger generation, a lot of our peers, and a lot of the student body, struggled with the blowback of the shooting. They struggled with the effects that were not so obvious.

Tell us about your volunteer role with Therapicasso.

Gabby: For me, I’m more on the legal and logistical side of things. I do a lot of the planning and the scheduling. I do everything related to writing emails, responding to and reaching out for new partnerships, and anything monetary.

Joshua: As the COO, I manage the programs and the workshops that we do. It all comes through directing our board, which we kind of are always working with. And basically, I just work to create these new programs and make sure that they run smoothly on workshop days. On top of, of course, helping out Gabby with any of the necessary things we need to do, such as the monetary stuff, or any of the programs or future ventures that we’re going to be doing.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

Gabby: When it comes to plans, we have been working to create our ambassadorship program. And so we have an ambassador program for sixth through eighth graders who will be able to, when they get to high school, continue the work that we are doing in the community. We will stay in our positions as CEO and COO. However, we want to allow them to step into the role specifically in this part of the community. Then eventually, once we have safely settled our roots here, we’re going to take this modality wherever we respectively go to college and bring it to the local school districts.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

Joshua: For me, it’s just seeing the change that we’re making in the students’ lives. Before Therapicasso, I always thought that saving someone’s life or changing someone’s life was specific to being a doctor or saving someone from a legal case. But after working with these children, I’ve realized that what we’re doing–these workshops, art in general, and the opportunity we’re giving them–can do so much for them.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

Gabby: I would start with the more funny things, like how to call the IRS! But when you’re 17, these are things you have to learn. We had to reach out to a lawyer and partner with a lot of people in our community who wanted to support us. I not only learned about grassroots fundraising and community organizing but also how to make long-term connections with people in the community who want to see change happen.

Joshua: I think something that I learned specifically was a new sort of leadership style. A leadership style of empowerment. Instead of making it a clear-cut, black-and-white sort of situation, which a lot of companies do, we took it as an approach to entering a conversation. If our youth board has something to bring up, we’ll let them bring it up. We are opening this conversation, and we bring that to any collaboration. We bring that in our workshops, bring that everywhere and we bring that into our leadership style. And it was new to us, and there was a bit of a learning curve. But eventually, we found our groove.

Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?

Joshua: Not only are people cultivating their passions, they’re enriching themselves in what they want to do. Taking their passion and growing it to help others. I think that the skill of being able to take something that you are passionate about and bring it to a community level, where you’re helping others, is something that I feel everyone should be able to cultivate within themselves. Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone has a narrative, and volunteering is a great medium. It’s a great way vehicle to kind of push that narrative.

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?

Gabby: Volunteering helps you find like-minded people. You don’t have to start your own organization. You can volunteer with others and then by meeting those other people you find your community. You find people who are aligned with you in that goal, in that volunteer work and then that it’s in and of itself, will naturally create a community of people who want to help one another and help and look to the mission that they’re doing. When you’re finding your voice, when you’re identifying your passion, also identify what need in the community you’re addressing.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

Gabby: I want people to learn how to reclaim their power. I feel like in the society we’re in today, and with social media, we feel helpless. We feel like we are one small voice in a crowd of billions of people. But the truth is that that one voice has so much power. When you yell fire into a crowd, that’s a bad thing. The whole crowd will come with you. Differently, you can use that same power of your voice in that one room to be able to create a cause and yell fire. But it’s not fire in a bad way. It’s fire as in the fire inside of you.

Joshua: Wherever you are and whatever walk of life you’re at, there’s always an opportunity out there. Doors are open. And if you don’t see any doors, you can make the door. And in our case, we made that door with Therapicasso. You can find your local hospital. You can find where a door wherever you are passionate about, and wherever your voice takes you. It always stems from what you want to do with your time, because time is valuable. Your time is valuable, your passion is valuable and your voice is valuable. So take into consideration all those things. But with time, passion and clarity, that’s when your volunteering can make an impact.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Gabby and Joshua? Find local volunteer opportunities.