Celebrating our growing community
The momentum to Heal the Scene is growing. This month, we want to highlight some of our partners and celebrate the way they’re contributing to the mission.
Corporate Partner - Justin Weinstein with Weinstein Legal Team
Advisor - Shawn Rodriguez from Crisis Text Line
Board Member - Lou Rivera from Rivera Physical Therapy
Replier - Andy French from The Access Group
Mentor - Tom Hart from ezCater
See their stories below:
Justin Weinstein
Justin found HeartSupport through HeartSupport Fest in 2023 as a sponsor with his law firm, Weinstein Legal Team. Since, he has been an advocate for the org, investing personal time in our staff, collaborating on marketing, and investing in the mission through a monthly gift.
Justin shares his story, how he became passionate about mental health through his upbringing, and why he cares to help #healthescene. Watch him discuss with Jake:
Shawn Rodriguez
Shawn Rodriguez is the General Counsel of Crisis Text Line, a hero and major player in the global mental health space. Shawn dedicated a full month of his sabbatical to elevating HeartSupport’s legal foundation. He overhauled our:
Employee Handbook and all policies therein
UBTI risk analysis
Board Bylaws and Conflict of Interest Policy
Independent Contractor Agreement
Executive Director Bi-annual effectiveness evaluation
Time Accounting Procedures
NDA Templates
Liability Waivers
He also initiated the process of getting us Pro Bono Counsel for trademarks and potential patenting of our machine learning technology and helped navigate and resolve a board-identified potential conflict of interest scenario.
He also shared his collection of Kiesel guitars with us and contributed to a joy-filled summer with our staff.
Lou Rivera
Lou Rivera owns his own physical therapy practice and has been a HeartSupport board member since 2020. As a business owner, he’s been introducing us to other business leaders to expand our organization’s supporters. He recently connected us to Drayer Physical Therapy and their foundation Pillars With Purpose who contributed a $7,000 grant and is initiating grassroots fundraising and volunteerism in their branches on behalf of HeartSupport. Lou’s optimism and sharing of his network has contributed to our active board culture.
Andy French
Andy French has been a Replier and Reply Team Leader for several years now and was recently re-energized to advocate for the mission when we refocused on the metal music scene. He’s invited several of his coworkers to volunteer on our Reply Teams, helped organize a benefit concert for HeartSupport, and is advocating for his company (The Access Group) to select HeartSupport as a grantee and future charity-of-the-year candidate. He shares about the experience he’s had as a volunteer below and why he’s passionate about the cause:
Tom Hart
Tom Hart was the software developer who built our Support Wall and our initial Porter Texting technology. He educated Nate on how to recruit and manage tech talent and paved a pathway for our innovative technology today. He’s also been a long-standing supporter of the cause through many capital campaigns and has been a monthly donor for many years.
Recently, we had a mentee who had a negative experience with a mentor, and we needed to rematch them with someone strong who we knew would be able to correct their experience quickly. Tom dove in, meeting with the mentee that same day and has been a stalwart supporter for this individual who has been in a high-stress season of life, battling suicidal thoughts. Because of Tom and donors who are funding this impact, this mentee now has a dependable source of connection and support.
Thank you
Our community is growing with passionate volunteers, donors, directors and advisors, contributors and contractors. Our impact is at an all-time high, and we couldn’t do this without you. It will take all of us to truly #healthescene, and we’re thankful to shoulder this mission together with you.
Grateful,
HeartSupport Team
