A Fairport teen has been working for the last several years to end the stigma around mental illness.
Maeve Reed lost her best friend to suicide when they were both freshmen in high school. At the time, Maeve said there was a silence about it, like people were sweeping her friend's death under the rug.
"There really wasn't much conversation about Jordyn, about how she died," Reed explained. "There was this sense of 'it's time to move on,' and I had adults tell me that."
More than 120 middle and high school students submitted entries to an annual art competition named in memory of Jordyn Keeley. The theme this year is 'The Source of My Strength.'
The artwork is aimed at raising awareness about the importance of developing resilience and coping skills.
"I call it pre-prevention to suicide," said Reed. "It's just building those skills so that when hard things in life come up, or if someone startings feeling symptoms of mental illness, that they have skills to cope with that."
The gallery opening event for the second annual Jordyn Keeley Memorial Art Competition is Friday, March 29 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Yards Collective at the Rochester Public Market.
The artwork will also be on display on Saturday, March 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Click on the LISTEN link above to hear Maeve Reed talk about Stop the Stigma, the nonprofit she founded.
