AMERICAN FORK, Utah — Two Utahns are on a mission to make mental health accessible and help everyone who is struggling to know that they are not alone.
“Years ago, my wife and I lost a baby,” said Jason Clawson.
While he was dealing with that grief, his neighbor Wyatt Ernst dropped off something special.
“They brought over this 'hope kit' with a lot of yellow stuff,” said Clawson. “They gave it to us at a time of need, and I never forgot that.”
Clawson also lost his wife to stage four colon cancer. But this time, he was inspired by Ernst’s gift and wanted to help others who were struggling.
“We created a lemonade stand, and we raised $1,500 to be able to make more hope kits,” recalled Clawson. “We began to deliver these hope kits to people that were struggling. And for me and my boys, I saw us become happier, and really be inspired to help other people.”
With that same neighbor as his business partner, Clawson and Ernst started the Hope Kit with things like cookies, books, journals and socks to comfort people who have lost a loved one. Oftentimes, people don’t know what to say to others who are grieving. So, they also created support cards that people can hand out to friends and family with questions they can ask that would be impactful.
“When a box goes out, or we get feedback, or people say 'Your box meant so much,' I feel like I’m able to help,” said Clawson.
They are now working on pre-therapy boxes. Clawson is a clinical therapist, and the two men came up with a six-week course in a box to help people prepare themselves for therapy.
“When people come to therapy, we’re doing a of training and teaching,” explained Clawson. “And a lot of people don’t know, so they’re spending valuable time teaching them for the first couple of sessions.”
The goal with the kit is to get people ready to be able to maximize on their therapy right from the get-go.
“Since COVID happened, most people need help emotionally. I was there as well,” said Ernst, who co-owns the business. “So the demand for therapists is through the roof. And we just want to help those people who need help today, but can’t find a therapist today.”
The pre-therapy box is filled with fun games, fortune cookies, activities and more.
“Therapy is just understanding your heart and can be in an exciting and fun way,” said Ernst.
There are self-love surveys that help decide which activities can help the person, and even the box itself is used to display affirmations. The goal is to find new ways to help people.
“It’s meant a lot,” said Clawson. “Going from someone that has gone through some really hard events in my life and being in that hard spot, to being on the other end where I can provide hope, it means so much to be able to help and say, 'I know how that feels."
Free kits can be ordered to test out and share feedback at pretherapy.com.
