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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - February 17, 2009
Stephanie Green Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
February 17, 2009

Colorado Springs, Colorado Wins Cash Award To Support A Community Suicide Prevention Program Fro At-risk Girls


(New York, NY, February 17, 2009) - Colorado Springs, Colorado resident Stephanie Green, 40, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of creating a better tomorrow for her community. Stephanie was named this week’s winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, a weekly $5,000 cash award program from Avon Products, Inc. to support individuals in their work to empower women. She is the second recipient of a Hello Tomorrow Fund award in Colorado since the program launched in 2007, and was selected by an expanded panel of judges that includes Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, and actress Phylicia Rashad. Stephanie will use her award to support STAR, a weekly suicide prevention program for at-risk teenage girls, in the Colorado Springs community, through the Another Life Foundation.

According to a study conducted in 2001 by the Colorado Trust and The Colorado Office of Suicide, the Rocky Mountain region has the highest suicide rate in the country. Statistics from the Colorado Trust also show that more teenagers and young adults will die of suicide than from birth defects, pneumonia, influenza, cancer, heart disease, AIDS and chronic lung disease, combined.

As a young adult, Stephanie struggled with clinical depression and made several suicide attempts. In an effort to help other young women like herself, Stephanie created the Another Life Foundation in 2005. Another Life remains the nation's only consumer-run organization dedicated to helping individuals battling with suicidal behaviors and mental illness. The Foundation’s goal is to reduce hospitalizations and the use of emergency services for suicidal behaviors by breaking the cycle through awareness, education, training, and mentoring. In nearly four years, Stephanie has turned the Another Life Foundation into a program that is recognized by community health organizations as a resource where they refer patients on an ongoing basis. Presently, the organization is mentoring 40 people, through 75 trained mentors with Stephanie as the driving force.

In an effort to reach girls when they are most vulnerable to depression and suicidal behaviors, Stephanie created the STAR program, specifically for 16-21 year olds. STAR is a weekly group, run by facilitators who teach the girls (S)elf-esteem building, (T)eamwork, (A)mbition, and (R)espect (STAR). Additionally, the girls learn how to incorporate self-care, exercise, and balanced nutrition into their daily lives as a method of reducing the effects of mental illness. Participants are also paired with a trained mentor that they can talk to and spend time with outside of the group. Because Another Life Foundation has limited funds, Stephanie has been struggling to take STAR to the next level, and provide more services to these girls who so desperately need them. This is where the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund can help.

With help from the Hello Tomorrow Fund, Stephanie will be able to expand STAR to reach as many as 180 girls, by paying additional facilitators with the ability to train new ones as well. The funds will also go towards discounted YMCA memberships so participants can maintain their physical fitness and the cost of printing informational packets and brochures. STAR will also be able to provide sessions given by women in the workforce who will speak with the girls about continuing their education and will also offer internships upon completion of school. Thanks to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, Stephanie can continue to empower girls to break the cycle of suicide attempts and help them to better manage their mental illness to prosper and become productive members of society.

Stephanie’s winning application to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund met the criteria of clearly presenting unique and achievable objectives to empower women or girls and ultimately improve society. It was selected from a pool of strong contenders by an expert panel of judges, including personal finance expert Suze Orman, actress Phylicia Rashad, Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, and experts in business and grantmaking. “This addresses a very important and vulnerable segment of society that is often shunned and isolated,” commented Sarah Ferguson on Stephanie’s proposal.

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