When School Ends, Support Shouldn't: Be Strong Connects Young People and Families to Help

Be Strong and the Never Alone Campaign continue to advance on uniting students, parents, guardians, school staff, foundations, and corporate partners to bridge the gap in care for young people.

NEW YORK, July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As schools across the country close for summer, many young people lose daily access to resources that often serve as critical lifelines throughout the year.

Recognizing this seasonal gap, Be Strong is expanding access to help, support, and care through the Be Strong App, innovative care partnerships, peer-to-peer leadership initiatives, and the launch of Season Two of the Never Alone Series.

For more than a decade, Be Strong has worked to strengthen mental, emotional, and relational health by removing barriers to support and connecting individuals to immediate help, trusted resources, and ongoing care. Through a growing network of partners, schools, communities, and healthcare providers, the organization continues to ensure that people know where to turn when challenges arise.

The demand for trusted support continues to grow.

In the first four months of 2026 alone, more than 15,700 individuals accessed help through Be Strong resources, while demand for support and care continues to accelerate across the country.

Helping power this work is the Be Strong App, an innovative resource navigation platform designed to connect individuals and families to immediate help, trusted support, and ongoing care. Available at no cost, the app helps users identify their needs and access resources ranging from mental health support and crisis intervention to food assistance, housing resources, healthcare navigation, financial assistance, and other essential services.

Available anytime and anywhere, the Be Strong App serves as a bridge between recognizing a challenge and finding practical solutions, ensuring that individuals and families can access support before struggles become crises.

"Be Strong puts mental health resources directly in the palms of a young person's hand. Adolescents struggling with their mental health face inordinate barriers to accessing care, including high cost, low availability, and lack of culturally-competent care. Putting resources directly in the hands of adolescents and the adults who care for them can thus be a game-changer, reaching young people at an early point in their "mental health risk trajectory," and getting them the care they need more quickly, reducing risk and ultimately saving lives." - Dr. Pamela Morris-Perez, Professor of Applied Psychology at NYU and Be Strong Advisory Board Member

Over a recent weekend, the Be Strong team reviewed messages from individuals and families across the country who had discovered the organization while searching for help.

The questions were remarkably consistent.

"Without insurance I am struggling to find any help."

"Nothing is free. What's the catch?"

"Is it legitimate or are you running some kind of a scam?"

"Do you have help for neurodivergent people?"

"My daughter is uninsured and low income and needs help."

"My son sent me this. Do y'all offer help for dads too?"

"How do we know this can't be used against us later?"

"I live in a state where there is a shortage of mental healthcare providers."

These messages are a reminder that the challenge is not simply a lack of services. People are struggling to find support they can trust, afford, access, and navigate.

One message captured that reality in a way that continues to stay with the team:

"I'm glad to know there was something pure and real in this crazy painful attempt to get help."

For Be Strong, that message serves as both a reminder and a responsibility. Behind every request is a person looking for connection, understanding, and a path forward. Expanding access to help has never been about programs alone. It is about ensuring that when someone reaches out, they encounter trusted resources, meaningful support, and real people committed to helping them take their next step.

One of the organization's most visible efforts to advance these conversations is the Never Alone Campaign and Never Alone Series, a conversation-driven podcast and video series designed to normalize help-seeking, encourage connection, and highlight stories of resilience.

Be Strong is proud to announce the launch of Season Two of the Never Alone Series, hosted by Jesula Jeannot and Ashleigh Cromer.

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube, the series explores topics including mental health, resilience, leadership, relationships, identity, purpose, healing, and the realities people often navigate in silence. Through authentic conversations with advocates, leaders, creators, and changemakers, the series reminds audiences that asking for help is a sign of strength.

Season Two of the Never Alone Series is strengthened by Logitech G, helping amplify conversations that inspire resilience, foster connection, and remind individuals and families that help is available and they are never alone. Through authentic storytelling and shared purpose, the partnership expands the reach of messages that encourage people to seek support, access care, and take their next step forward.

Erin Chin, Global Head of Brand Marketing at Logitech G and Be Strong Advisory Board Member, shared, "Real connection begins when we stop navigating our challenges in silence. Logitech G is deeply committed to Be Strong's mission of building resilient, supportive communities. Through Season Two of the Never Alone series, we are proud to amplify the stories of changemakers, creators, and advocates who are normalizing mental health conversations. Our partnership is rooted in a shared purpose: ensuring that everyone, everywhere, knows they have a community standing with them and a clear pathway to trusted care."

The organization's commitment to ongoing care is further strengthened through its partnership with BetterHelp, helping connect individuals to professional support and reducing barriers that often prevent people from accessing care.

Together, Be Strong and BetterHelp are helping transform moments of struggle into opportunities for healing by ensuring individuals can access trusted care, professional support, and a path forward when they need it most. For many people, the challenge is not recognizing they need help. The challenge is knowing where to find it, how to access it, and whether it will be there when they do.

"We're honored to partner with Be Strong to help connect more individuals to the support they need and ensure they know they don't have to face life's challenges alone. Our State of Stigma report found that nearly half (47%) of Gen Z adults feel pressure to handle their mental health challenges on their own rather than seek professional help. That's why partnerships like this matter. They help break down barriers to care by ensuring more young people know where to turn and can access trusted, professional support when they need it most." - Ciara Kelly, Program Manager of Social Impact, BetterHelp.

Be Strong's efforts to strengthen communities are also supported through partnerships with organizations committed to investing in long-term well-being and resilience. Among them is Hormel Foods and the Hormel Charitable Trust, whose support continues to help strengthen communities by expanding access to resources, empowering young people, and creating opportunities for connection, leadership, and support across the communities they serve.

As Be Strong continues to expand access to support and care, the organization is also preparing to launch the inaugural Never Alone Workplace Impact Awards, recognizing corporations, nonprofit organizations, and mission-driven leaders that are helping create cultures where employees and those they love are supported, connected, and never alone.

As workplace uncertainty, burnout, stress, loneliness, and mental health challenges continue to impact organizations across the country, the Never Alone Workplace Impact Awards will highlight innovative approaches to employee well-being, human connection, access to support, and workplace culture.

The awards will be accompanied by the Never Alone Leadership Series, featuring conversations with executives, nonprofit leaders, and changemakers who are advancing workplace well-being while demonstrating that investing in people is essential for healthy organizations and thriving communities.

"Strong communities are built through connection, care, and a shared commitment to one another's well-being. Recognizing organizations and leaders that prioritize mental, emotional, and relational health not only honors their leadership. It reinforces the idea that creating environments where people feel supported and valued is everyone's responsibility. When we invest in people, we strengthen workplaces, families, and communities, ensuring more individuals know they are never alone." - Ambrosia Long, Third-Party Brand Partnerships, National Geographic and Be Strong Advisory Board Member.

The Never Alone Workplace Impact Awards and Leadership Series will culminate around Giving Tuesday, celebrating organizations that are moving beyond awareness and taking action to strengthen mental, emotional, and relational health in meaningful and measurable ways.

Be Strong invites corporations, foundations, donor-advised fund holders, healthcare providers, schools, nonprofit organizations, and community leaders to join this growing movement by expanding access to support, care, and connection; sharing the Be Strong App with employees, families, students, and communities; supporting peer-to-peer leadership and resilience-building initiatives; investing in innovative solutions that help people navigate challenges before they become crises; and partnering to ensure trusted resources and pathways to care remain available for those searching for help.

Whether through strategic partnerships, corporate engagement, direct giving, or donor-advised fund grants, every investment helps strengthen access to help, support, and care.

School may be out, but struggles do not take the summer off. Neither does help. Through technology, trusted partnerships, storytelling, and access to care, Be Strong is helping ensure that young people and families know where to turn when challenges arise. Because awareness alone is not enough. People need trusted resources, accessible support, and clear pathways to help and care. Together, we can strengthen access to support, care, and connection, ensuring more people know they are Never Alone and help is here. Give Help & Get Help Here! 

About Be Strong

Be Strong is a national charity dedicated to strengthening mental, emotional, and relational health by increasing access to help, support, and care. Through the Be Strong App, peer-to-peer leadership programs, resilience education, crisis support resources, and innovative care partnerships, Be Strong equips individuals and communities with practical tools that ensure help is available when it is needed most.

For media inquiries, partnership opportunities, or to learn more, visit BeStrong.org

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Be Strong