Our story
Started with a coffee can of coins
In 2019 a handful of neighbors began dropping spare change into a jar to cover bus fare and copays for friends who couldn't afford to get to therapy. That jar became a fund, the fund became a support group, and the group became The Spare Change Organization for Mental Health Support & Awareness.
Our mission
To make mental health support ordinary: easy to find, free to reach, and impossible to be ashamed of. We do that through peer-led groups, community education, and a digital space where people can be honest about how they're doing.
Our approach
We are not a clinic. We are the layer around clinical care — the check-in between appointments, the person who answers at 11pm on the forum, the workshop that helps a manager notice a struggling employee. We partner with licensed providers and refer out whenever professional care is the right call.
What we hold to
Lived experience leads
Our facilitators and board include people who have used the services they now help run.
Free at the point of need
No one is asked for money to attend a group, read the forum, or call for help.
Privacy by default
What is shared in a group stays in the group. Our forum is moderated, not mined.
Clarity over jargon
We explain mental health in plain language people can repeat to their family.