August 2025 Newsletter
Hello!
Welcome to our new readers and thank you to our long-time supporters for continuing this journey with us!
We’re thrilled to have your support as we work together to transform mental health support for young adults in our community. We have a packed newsletter this month with exciting updates.
Keep reading to see what's happening in our community!
Thank You for Supporting Go4GarrettsSpace!
We are overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone who joined us at this year's Go4GarrettsSpace event! Your presence, generosity, and belief in our mission made the evening absolutely unforgettable.
Seeing so many faces come together in support of our work was a powerful reminder of why Garrett's Space exists: to build community, break down stigma around mental health, and ensure no one feels alone in their struggles.
By the Numbers
Thanks to your incredible support, we welcomed more than 350 guests, and we smashed our fundraising goal, raising more than $223,000 to support our wellness programming and the creation of our residential campus!
A True Community Effort
This success belongs to all of you! Thank you to our:
Event sponsors and auction donors who made the evening possible
Attendees who filled the room with warmth and connection
Generous donors who continue to believe in our mission
Auction supporters who bid with enthusiasm—our auction raised a record $31,000!
Volunteers who contributed their time, energy, and talents to help the night run smoothly
Every contribution, no matter the size, has brought us one step closer to filling critical gaps in mental health support for young adults in our community. We are grateful for your generosity!
If you weren’t able to join us, you can watch the program recording here.
Help Us Improve Our Event!
We'd love your feedback about this year's event—whether you attended or not. Please take a few minutes to complete this brief survey to help us plan for the offerings and timing of next year’s #Go4GarrettsSpace fundraiser. Thank you in advance!
Dine at SheWolf in honor of National Suicide Prevention Month
This September, we're partnering with Detroit's beloved SheWolf Pastificio & Bar for a meaningful National Suicide Prevention Month collaboration to break down the stigma around mental health and build community around the dinner table.
Throughout the entire month, SheWolf will donate $1 from every pasta dish sold to Garrett's Space, supporting our mission to reduce suicides and helping us expand our reach to the Detroit area. It's a simple but powerful way to combine the comfort of their authentic Italian cuisine with our shared commitment to mental health awareness.
Whether you're planning a date night, catching up with friends, redeeming a gift card you won at our recent auction, or treating yourself to their renowned handmade pasta, every bite supports young adults who are struggling with depression and anxiety in our community.
Mark your calendars and make your reservations from September 1st through 30th at SheWolf Pastificio & Bar in Detroit (438 Selden St, Detroit, MI 48201) and enjoy delicious pasta for an important cause!
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more information and ways to get involved during National Suicide Prevention Month this September.
Join Team Garrett's Space at the Ann Arbor Marathon on October 12th
Our staff and supporters will be running, walking, and volunteering at the Ann Arbor Marathon, which aims to "E-Race the Stigma" and support organizations that focus on mental health.
We'd love for you to join us! Here’s how you can get involved:
Option 1: Run or Walk (Any Distance)
Join the team: When signing up, select "Garrett's Space" as your team
Use discount code: "GIVEBACKGS2025" during registration
Your benefits: 5% discount on your registration fee
Garrett’s Space benefits: 20% of your registration fee goes to Garrett's Space
Option 2: Volunteer at Our Cheer Station
Select: "Garrett's Space" as your volunteer team, and you’ll be stationed at a dedicated Garrett's Space cheer station
Garrett’s Space benefits: The Ann Arbor Marathon will donate additional funds to support our work
Join us in E-Racing the Stigma and supporting mental health resources for young adults in our community! Visit the marathon website to get started or learn more and join our team here.
Community-Engaged Writing with Garrett’s Space
This fall, we're excited to serve as the featured community partner for a new University of Michigan Lloyd Scholars for Writing and the Arts (LSWA) course called Community-Engaged Writing. This innovative class introduces students to writing for both academic and non-academic communities. Students will practice applied, community-engaged writing while exploring mental health care and suicide prevention as they intersect with young people's identities.
We asked Professor Scott Beal who is teaching the class how this meaningful partnership came together and what students will discover about the power of community-centered writing.
What inspired you to partner with Garrett's Space for this writing course?
The Ginsberg Center, which coordinates community-engaged learning programs at U of M, worked closely with LSWA in planning this course and suggested several possible partners. At first, I anticipated working with an arts-focused nonprofit, and there were several amazing organizations to choose from. But when I learned about Garrett’s Space, I was immediately drawn to the work they do. Mental health support is an urgent and unaddressed need for so many of our students, and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to invite students to engage with writing in service of Garrett’s Space’s mission.
How do you envision this collaboration serving both your students' learning goals and Garrett's Space's mission?
One of my most important goals in designing any writing course is to create writing opportunities that feel authentic. Students are most motivated to write when the assignments have real purposes and audiences beyond just trying to impress their professor. Meanwhile, LSWA’s students fall squarely into the demographic that Garrett’s Space serves and can provide valuable input about their own experiences and perspectives that can inform Garrett’s Space’s work. So the collaboration creates an opportunity for our students to benefit from writing with real motives and stakes, and for Garrett’s Space to gather input from young writers with a lot in common with the clients they serve.
As an educator, what excites you most about this upcoming collaboration?
Julie and Scott have been wonderful collaborators on inventing and planning this course, and I’m eager to create spaces for my students to interact directly with their work. LSWA has never had a writing course designed around a community partner before, so I’m excited about the experiment, and to see how students respond to this unique learning opportunity. And I hope the class can help raise the profile of Garrett’s Space as a resource for U-M students in need of mental health support.
What do you hope students will take away from writing about mental health advocacy and community support?
I hope students will embrace the opportunity to think analytically and creatively about their own experiences with mental health. I’d like them to leave the course with deepened critical perspectives about their psychological ways of being in the world, the factors that contribute to those ways of being, and strategies for supporting their own wellness. And I want them to feel a sense of accomplishment that their writing has done good work in support of an outstanding community partner in Garrett’s Space who will build on their work to make young people’s lives better.
About Professor Scott Beal
Scott Beal has been teaching at the University of Michigan's Sweetland Center for Writing since 2012 and serves as Director of the Lloyd Scholars for Writing and the Arts (LSWA). His courses span first-year writing, poetry, surrealism, fantasy worldbuilding, and race and ethnicity studies.
How You Can Help
Thank you for your generous contributions to our efforts! Your support helps us offer free wellness groups and monthly in-person gatherings while we work towards realizing our vision of creating a residential space for young adults in need. We are excited to continue this journey together and are grateful for your ongoing commitment! Here’s how you can stay involved:
Volunteer: Join our dedicated team of volunteers to support events or help with tasks that keep our mission moving forward. To learn more contact info@garrettsspace.org.
Donate: Your generous contribution directly supports our programs, offering hope and healing to young adults facing mental health challenges. Every donation, no matter the size, makes an impact. Donate at our website or become a member of the Cardinal Circle.
Spread the Word: Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. And share our mission with your network to help raise awareness and grow our community of support.