HC Meets To Write Love On Her Arms: Our Chat With Jason Blades

Her Campus Point Park had the opportunity this summer to chat with artists & sponsors for Vans Warped Tour 2015, including the Music & Events Coordinator of a fan-favorite nonprofit organization, To Write Love On Her Arms! Jason Blades, a 7-year TWLOHA staff member, discussed with us the reality of a career in events, how he got to where he is now, and what the company is doing to help those struggling with mental health:

 

 

JB: “We’re a nonprofit movement best dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people who struggle with depression, addictions, self injury, and suicide. We also exist to encourage, inspire, and invest directly in treatment.”

 

JB: “In high school and college, I never was directly affected by mental health the way that some people that we work with are; I had friends that struggled, but I had no idea how to help. Interning with them in 2009 was my attempt to learn how to help by immersing in the organization and trying to understand what I could do to bring it home and help those around me. I’ve been working with them ever since!”

 

JB: “There are three terms of the internship a year- spring, summer and fall. I’d say for anyone interested in mental health or the idea of community and wanting to help others, it’s a great program. We treat you more than just an intern; you come to Florida for the three and a half months and live in a house together with the other interns. As an organization, we talk a lot about community and how the healing from a lot of the issues we address starts to happen within community- where people know you and you’re able to know other people, just the sharing of all that- which is why interns live together and get to experience community firsthand. That itself is worth moving to Florida for, aside from the work we’re trying to do! The program is like a 9 to 5, but not. We do a lot of events per term that are really fun; some interns get to come to Warped Tour, and sometimes they’re lucky enough to be flown out to certain events if we need staffing. 

As far as the application process, we have a resume portion, video portion, and short questionnaire. All of it’s just to get a gauge of what they’re passionate about, what they want to do, and what their skills are in. We don’t ever turn anyone away for not knowing what they want to do… it’s moreso how can we invest in them while they’re in Florida and maximize their time. I guess our programs are our departments- we have a social media department, events team, administrative, and a few others. They end up getting placed in one of those roles and get to work beside the staff. We’re all seen as peers, so we have equal amounts of responsibility.” 

 

 

 

JB: “The first person to ever wear one of our shirts was a musician named Jon Foreman from the band Switchfoot. We believe very strongly in the power of music, and also the platform that all of these artists, musicians, brands, bands, and nonprofits have to connect with people. Kevin Lyman, the owner of Warped Tour, does an amazing thing by bringing out 10 to 11 nonprofits every year to the ‘take action section’ that gets people here connected to work that makes big significance. It’s been great in the sense that it allows us the opportunity to meet people in different cities around the world. That and partnering with music is why we exist the way we do and why we have supporters all over, so we’re very thankful for Warped Tour.”

 

JB: “It’s hard to pick a favorite! I really like the ones we put on ourselves; we’ve done a 5K run in Florida for two years in a row, and since we do a lot of traveling we don’t get to do much locally. It’s cool to service our own area so our whole team gets together. I do events- this is my world, most of our team doesn’t get to experience this- but with the 5K they do. I love all of the events, especially Warped, but I also got do some of [founder] Jamie’s book tour cities which was totally opposite. It was a bit more formal, I got to wear nice clothes. We exist to reach people where they’re at, so we do all sorts of things from music events to a 5K, book tours, conferences, churches, high schools, so I like all of it.”

 

JB: “This has been a very busy year for us in the best ways Both the book and the movie have been such milestones and great opportunities for TWLOHA. We are incredibly proud to see Renee’s story as a movie continue to help, encourage, inspire hope and save lives. We are equally as excited to be able to offer Jamie’s book to those that are struggling as a very tangible telling of pain, hope, brokenness, and the hope that can be found with conversation, community, and honesty.”

 

HC: What can students at Point Park University do to get involved with TWLOHA or spread awareness for suicide, depression, mental health, etc.?JB: “On our website, we have a page geared towards those wanting to help and get involved with the cause in their area. There are 10-15 programs and ways to be an advocate for mental health locally. There is also a “Find Help” page for any and all that are in need of resources or help!”