By Phuong Nguyen
In 2019, more than 30 community leaders, including the presidents and chief executive officers of all the major hospital systems in the Tampa Bay area, convened for two days to discuss the state of the community’s mental health.
Data from a community health assessment had revealed that despite strong programs in place, and significant investments in mental health, residents in Tampa Bay were still experiencing high levels of mental health issues. The coalition of leaders asked themselves: Why weren’t people getting better and what could they do to help their community heal?
To tackle the issue, BayCare issued a $5 million funding challenge to leaders from Tampa General Hospital, AdventHealth, HCA Healthcare and Florida Blue to establish a nonprofit organization focused on this area. The group, jointly, committed an initial $5.5 million to fund this new entity and tasked it with determining the best approach, and priorities, for a regional effort to improve behavioral health. Tampa Bay Thrives was born.
Unbeknownst to anyone, COVID-19 would soon strike and the mental health fallout that followed would be widely considered a second pandemic around the world. The timing was ripe for Thrives to help its community navigate the challenges of receiving help for mental health struggles by providing support and solutions based on inclusive research, thoughtful innovation and impactful programmatic work.
Today, as it approaches its fifth anniversary, Tampa Bay Thrives has emerged as a game changer for the region in mental health for both employers and individuals in need.
Furthermore, the coalition that started Thrives remains steadfast in its commitment, serving as members of the Tampa Bay Thrives Board of Directors.
“Tampa Bay Thrives meets the community where they are at,” said Chis Majeski, senior vice president, head of private client group supervision at Raymond James and vice chair of the Tampa Bay Thrives Board of Directors. “TBT listens to community feedback; and acts based on what the community says it wants, not what the system suggests it needs. Tampa Bay Thrives has truly made an impact on a level never before seen.”
Thrives’ approach to its work has garnered headlines and accolades, with its President and CEO Carrie Zeisse receiving the Tampa Bay Lightning Community Hero Award, in January 2024.
Thrives, which is also a proud Mental Health America affiliate, has tendrils that reach diverse companies and neighborhoods across the Tampa Bay area. Its five years of impact include interactions with more than 50,000 community members at public events; 53,000 individuals taking part in online screenings to better understand their mental health; and 9.58 million people reached by Thrives’ #IYKYK anti-stigma campaign.
Other highlights include:
This year, MHA credited the dedicated efforts of Thrives for helping to increase Bell Seal Certification participation in the state of Florida. Tampa Bay Thrives’ successfully led a cohort of five local companies in completing the 2024 Bell Seal for Workplace Mental Health certification. These Tampa Bay area companies are now, nationally recognized as meeting or exceeding workplace standards that promote positive mental health and well-being. Champions for Children, Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, Polk County Board of County Commissioners, the Mosaic Company and Thrives all received certifications at the gold or platinum level.
Also in 2024, Thrives collaborated with the Bullard Family Foundation to launch a mental wellness room, called the Zen Den, at Sligh Middle Magnet School, in Tampa. Thrives designed the mental health space based on feedback from students. In the first three months of the year, 88 students participated in Zen Den programming, reporting a 2-3 point increase in mental health scores. Thrives received $250,000 in state funding to produce mental wellness rooms at three additional schools.
This past summer, Thrives continued its partnership with the Bullard Family Foundation and recruited social media influencer Travis Doodles to offer a videography camp centered around mental health. More than 80 students from across Hillsborough County applied. Twelve students were selected and, after the week-long camp, they wrote, starred in, shot and produced a series of videos about youth mental health.
The 2023 Resident Mental Health Survey, the second of its kind commissioned by Tampa Bay Thrives, found that nearly 7 in 10 residents experienced at least one poor mental health day in a recent month. Fourteen percent of respondents reported missing work, corresponding to 524,500 missed workdays a month and approximately 6.3 million missed workdays per year, across the region. Tampa Bay Thrives recently completed the third Resident Mental Health Survey, which includes additional inputs from Manatee and Sarasota County respondents.
To improve navigation for mental health services, Thrives created Let’s Talk, a free mental health navigation support line. Since its creation, Let’s Talk has served more than 5,700 Tampa Bay residents. Additionally, 684 referrals were made to local behavioral health immediate care providers via Let’s Talk, and a Let’s Talk resource database of 803 available providers was built. Eighty-five percent of Let’s Talk callers indicated they were very or exceptionally satisfied with their experience in post-call surveys, and Let’s Talk had a higher answer rate (92%) and a lower rate of abandoned calls (7.5%) than the national average in 2023.
In 2023, Thrives launched its first major anti-stigma initiative, the “If you know, you know” (#IYKYK) campaign. The real-life stories of more than 40 Tampa Bay residents highlighted a variety of mental health concerns from a diverse range of voices. These stories reached hard-to-target audiences, thanks to the authenticity of peers sharing with others.
Since 2022, Thrives has inspired nine landmarks and bridges across Tampa Bay to light up green for Mental Health Awareness Month.
“Our Board of Directors recently adopted a new vision statement: ‘We envision an emotionally healthy community where mental health is a priority and all thrive together,’” says Zeisse. “We are proud to partner with incredible companies and organizations to join our community in their journey to achieve better mental health. Together, we can ensure a better tomorrow.” ♦