SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – It’s been over a year since News 6 first met Joe Gallagher, the founder of Ali’s Hope Foundation, and learned about his mission to help teens struggling with mental health issues after losing his own daughter to suicide.
When our team first sat down with Gallagher in 2023, he said Ali’s Hope Foundation would get results and keep growing, and it has.
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“I think the last time we talked we were in seven schools,” Gallagher told News 6. “Now, we’re in eight high schools.”
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Ali’s Hope Foundation recently presented Seminole County Public Schools with an $80,000 check to fund a social worker that will spend time at Lake Mary High School and Winter Springs High School.
Unlike other efforts where it may be difficult to see how donations really make a difference, this money goes directly into our schools in a lounge space for students that is staffed with the social worker.
“Most of the schools, they can only keep it open for lunch time, and the way they do that is the teachers give up their planning period,” said Gallagher. “Lunch time is great, but wouldn’t it be nice if a safe lounge could be available throughout the day for the kids to come when they’re anxious, going through depression, whatever it might be.”
Gallagher says the social worker will split time between both high schools. The lounge at Lake Mary High School will be open Monday and Thursday, all day. It will be open at Winter Springs High School on Tuesday and Friday, all day. And, then the social worker will rotate on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, at a lot of these schools, the mental health counselor has a full plate. Anywhere from 40 to 60 cases, which is a lot in a given time,” said Gallagher. “So, having this just as an added resource, I think it will benefit the kids dramatically.”
Our News 6 team toured the lounge at Lake Mary High School in 2023, and heard from the students directly how it was getting results.
“It really is more of a getaway from school for me to decompress or if I’m really feeling anxious or I feel like I’m about to have an anxiety attack,” Kiala-Jo Collins said.
Julia Shade added she didn’t know where to go between classes before this space emerged.
“I would feel like a restlessness in my legs, just wandering the halls aimlessly,” Shade said. “Really this place just became an anchor. The fact that I knew no matter what happened I had a place to return to.”
Gallagher says the students were the ones who were the most excited when Ali’s Hope Foundation recently presented the school district with a donation to staff the lounges at two schools.
“They were like, ‘Wow! This is really happening. We have this for us,’” said Gallagher.
“The numbers today say that 30% of all students struggle with some type of mental illness,” said Gallagher. “There’s another report out that says four out of five kids that committed suicide just want to have somebody to talk to, and this gives them that ability. In their darkest moment, they’ll have somebody to talk to.”
Gallagher started Ali’s Hope Foundation with his wife, Helen, after their daughter’s death in 2007.
“She had been struggling for several years,” Gallagher said. “When she passed away, you know, Helen and myself really sat back and started thinking, why? What could we have done?”
Ali’s Hope Foundation was the answer, and so began their mission to make a difference for other families.
“Ideally we’re at two schools right now with a social worker. I would love to tell you in January we’re at four schools, and then next year we’ll be at six schools, but this is really where we need the community to help,” said Gallagher. “I’m hoping that someone watching this segment tonight will be inspired and say, ‘let me make a phone call over to Ali’s Hope, and let’s duplicate that at my school.’”
Ali’s Hope Foundation provides funding for mental health resources to promote access to treatment, sustainability of programs and stabilization for those in need. It’s also the driving force behind creating wellness clubs in different high schools in Seminole County.
You can learn more about Ali’s Hope Foundation, its impact, and how to get involved by clicking here.
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