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“Here For You.” It’s a strong statement of support emblazoned on sweatshirts, stickers, hats, friendship bracelets, and keychains across the Hilltop. This message of support and encouragement is on display thanks to Ellie Haney, the founder of Here For You, a clothing company that has made a name for itself by selling apparel that spreads messages of mental health awareness and fosters a community of support. 

Haney shared the inspiration behind her company with the Pomfret community in a school-wide lecture. After experiencing mental health challenges in middle school, high school, and college, she began making and selling tie-dyed shirts during the pandemic. The process gave her something to look forward to each morning. She woke up eager to see how her designs and different colors came out. She had not felt that enthusiasm in a long time. After graduating from college and entering the workforce, she missed the excitement she felt from her pandemic project. She decided to establish her company, Here For You, and donate a portion of the proceeds to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Haney has spoken at high schools and colleges around the country about mental health and substance abuse. 

“I have found a light, and I will not stop sharing it with others,” says Haney. “I am here to break the stigma surrounding mental health and normalize the conversations around it.”

“Here for you” is a phrase that Haney and her friend and business partner, Emma Kilbride, would say to one another when they were going through hard times. Even if they didn’t want to talk or know how to express what they were going through, they would say, “Here for you.” The phrase suggested that they were thinking about the other and were there for support.
 

Charlie Festini ’25 first met Haney at Here For You’s pop-up shop. Haney’s story and passion moved Charlie to spread light and positivity around mental health. She has helped promote Haney’s message across the world — passing out stickers on Pomfret’s Destino Salamanca trip and while visiting Canada. She worked with the Dean of Students office to bring Haney and Here For You to Pomfret for the brand’s first boarding school lecture.

“I think it’s important for my classmates to hear about mental health challenges some people go through — and to know that there is hope,” says Festini. “We are such a tight-knit community at Pomfret, and I think that if anyone is struggling, we want them to know that we have their back.” As the vice president of the Mental Health Club, Charlie is dedicated to reducing the stigma surrounding mental health. She hands out stickers and keychains and encourages her friends to check out Haney’s work. 

Charlie is just one of many students promoting mental health initiatives. Audrey Bonaventura ’25 is passionately involved in Morgan’s Message, which strives to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health within the student-athlete community and equalize the treatment of physical and mental health in athletics. She has celebrated the cause during lacrosse games and with a dress-down day on World Mental Health Day, and she has invited a guest speaker to talk with seniors during QUEST about stress and college applications. Tyler Milrad '25 and Matt McClure '25 lead Men at Pomfret, a student club dedicated to men’s mental health that deploys the MANUAL app that checks in with male-identifying students about their wellbeing and teaches coping strategies.

 

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