Students at the University created a community of caring Friday night at Caffe Paradiso.
Members of the University’s chapter of To Write Love on Her Arms, a registered student organization, hosted an event called “Resilience — An Evening of Community, Music and Strength” from 7 to 9 p.m.
According to its website, the group is a nonprofit, national organization that is dedicated to helping people who struggle with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.
The group encourages people to seek treatment and recovery.
About 25 people attended the event. The evening focused on building community and overcoming hardships, no matter the size.
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It featured an acoustic performance by Jacob Porter, junior in business and events coordinator for the RSO. Porter has been involved with the RSO for the past three years. The songs were about relationships, healing and forgiveness, Porter said.
He said that being involved in To Write Love on Her Arms gives him the opportunity to help.
“Being a part of this group is about struggling and finding even some small way, even if it’s just like one person a semester that gets helped from something like this. To me, that’s worth the effort it takes,” Porter said.
Lindsay Bailey, founder and president of the RSO and a junior in FAA, and Jason Dompeling, vice president of the local chapter and senior in ACES, spoke at the event.
After Dompeling lost his best friend to suicide two years ago, he struggled with mild depression. As a result, Dompeling discovered the national organization and has been involved for two years.
Dompeling, said there is a strong sense of community within the organization. However, he said members always welcome outsiders to join and receive support.
“If you’re struggling, there is a group of students right here that want to help you that are dedicating our time to help you and to listen,” Dompeling said.
Jill McClary, fundraising coordinator and sophomore in Engineering, sold official merchandise at the event. McClary struggled with self-injury, mild depression and an eating disorder in high school. A friend introduced her to the group and she has been involved for two years. McClary said they were hoping to see people at the event who are not as active within the organization.
“It is really nice seeing the people that are really committed just to continue coming out and being able to have these really strong conversations and really just building our community here,” McClary said.
