FEATURE
Two-thirds of people who suffer from depression never try to get help, and this is a fact Jamie Tworkowski knows all too well. Tworkowski is the founder of the non-profit organization To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA).
He began the organization because of the issues he noticed with a friend in spring 2006. Her name is Renee Yohe.
Yohe was depressed and needed more than just a friend; she needed treatment. In order for her to get treatment for depression and drugs, Tworkowski started selling T-shirts to help support her. The MySpace page where the shirts could be purchased became so popular that nationally touring bands started supporting the group. Bands like Paramore, Switchfoot, Anberlin and Evanescence helped advertise TWLOHA on tours by wearing or selling the shirts decorated with the words ‘To Write Love On Her Arms’ at their shows.
The first box of T-shirts was actually opened up on the FAU campus. Backstage before a Switchfoot show in March 2006, Tworkowski opened the box, and the lead singer of Switchfoot, Jon Foreman, asked, ‘Would it be OK if I wore this on stage?’ That night Tworkowski had his hands full with e-mails and comments about his story.
Today, TWLOHA is internationally known and tours the country giving speeches that have uplifting words. Tworkowski and his friends came to FAU last year and spoke about issues students and teens face with depression and had some musical guests play acoustically.
‘This [To Write Love On Her Arms] is not a good title. It looked like the title to a Fall Out Boy song,’ joked Tworkowski on the serious matter of depression.
He came up with the slogan when he noticed Yohe carved the word ‘fuck-up’ on her arm.
‘It wasn’t a matter of profanity. That’s who she thought she was,’ Tworkowski added.
This year, he is back. FAU is the first of a 14-date tour of college campuses across the U.S. Friend Denny Kolsch and licensed counselor Aaron Moore will be with Tworkowski, and Damion Suomi will accompany the event with some acoustic music.
To learn more about what TWLOHA is doing, visit:
www.twloha.com
www.myspace.com/towriteloveonherarms
