The Please Live Foundation began with a simple message to those considering suicide: please live. A short and to-the-point plea to end the tragic loss of life to suicide.

Suicide prevention is a multi-faceted goal, and the Please Live Grant seeks to financially assist any organization that is tackling suicide prevention in Pennsylvania.

History:

Please Live began as an educational nonprofit founded by Alexa Moody at 19 years old. The 3-pronged program aimed to bring suicide prevention resources to the community through school-based events; a professional training for teachers and staff, an educational assembly for students, and a health and resource fair for service agencies.

As community and educational needs shifted and access to alternative forms of suicide prevention education expanded, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, Please Live pivoted from being the educators to the funders, utilizing the support we garnered over a decade to better support new and emerging programs.

Today, the Please Live fund, managed by The Foundation for Enhancing Communities, continues to tackle mental health education, early intervention, and suicide prevention through grants. As Please Live’s humble beginnings started with a group of teenagers taking a risk, we encourage any organization – no matter how big or small – to apply for our grant. We are especially interested in programs that include student leadership and participation and those that break down barriers for seeking treatment.

Committee Members:

Alexa Moody
Andrea Blosser
Tiffany Yannelli
Laura Cook

Grant Guidelines

Target Audience: Projects should ultimately help students k-12 and college age to achieve better mental wellness through education and early intervention measures. This can include but is not limited to:

• Directly reaching and impacting suicidal youth to encourage them to seek treatment
• Equipping students to be mindful of and proactive of the mental wellness of their friends, families, and peers
• Providing education and training to adults who directly work with youth, such as teachers, parents, coaches, medical professionals, etc.
• Creation of resources to provide help and hope, such as free documents, pamphlets, videos, social media tools, etc.
• Eliminating barriers to treatment, such as stigma, ignorance of rights, familiar or cultural pushback, physical or digital access to services, cost of treatment, etc.
• Providing unique mental wellness experiences, such as health and resource fairs, screenings, and nontraditional therapies such as equine or animal therapy, art therapy, mindfulness and yoga, etc.