Caring Causes: Z-Cares

Z-Cares, a national foundation dedicated to helping teens and families cope with anxiety and overcome the stigma associated with mental health issues, is standing up to anxiety with a month-long "What Makes Me Happy" challenge during Mental Health Awareness Month on social media across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The goal is to receive videos from every state and beyond, and the Foundation website has a map tracking where participants are from so everyone can follow along.

Share a video, make a comment or post a photo and tag us on social media (#zcares and #whatmakesmehappy) to spread the happiness!

Anxiety is completely treatable! No one has to suffer alone, and no one needs to tackle the problem alone. Z-Cares is committed to helping anxiety sufferers overcome their condition with knowledgeable and caring experts and tried-and-true programs. But most of all, the condition can be conquered with love and attention.

ABOUT Z-CARES FOUNDATION

Teens can be especially vulnerable to anxiety and other factors that may lead to taking their own life. Bay Area residents Steve and Mannie Nimmo know this devastating fact firsthand. Their son Zachary took his own life when he was only 14. Zachary’s grieving parents want to prevent the tragedy of teen suicide from happening to another family. With their daughter Samantha, they founded the Z-Cares Foundation in 2019. Through the national non-profit, the Nimmos work tirelessly to help  teens and their families recognize the causes and symptoms of this debilitating and very treatable condition that has reached crisis proportions in this country – and connect them to the resources they need to overcome it. The Foundation’s mission is to create proactive communities that enable teens who suffer from anxiety to reach out for help and readily access available resources to assist them and for community members to reach in with those resources and support. Through Z-Cares, Steve and Mannie, with Samantha, continue to establish partnerships with mental health care organizations and other groups dedicated to creating a shared understanding among teens and adults that it is ‘ok to not be ok.

Providing resource support directly to teens is Z-Cares’ “Sit Down with Sam”, one-on-one peer chat videos with Z-Cares VP of Youth Outreach, Samantha Nimmo. A college student majoring in psychology, Sam talks with “real” people about their journey, hope and inspiration with mental health disorders.