2023 impact report

PROVEN MODEL FOR IMPACT

Our free mobile app creates a safe community online where youth can learn how to share and listen to each other while finding a safe outlet to discover and honor their own emerging voices and identities.

GUTF participants who actively participate in a Supportive Group Chat report an increased sense of connection and belonging.

To learn more about our impact, read our 2023 Impact Report

How do we ensure that Give Us The Floor is a safe place? Read Here

WHY 2SLGBTQiA+ YOUTH NEED our SUPPORT

In April 2022, the CDC released the findings of a survey of 7,700 teens conducted in the first six months of 2021, and warns of a steep decline in teen mental health. They have called this a “public health crisis,” stating that more than 4 in 10 teens reported feeling “persistently sad or hopeless,” and 1 in 5 reported that they have contemplated suicide.

the critical need for more youth-centered mental health support

  • Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college-age youth and ages 12-18 (2016 CDC WISQARS)

  • More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, combined

  • Each day in our nation, there are an average of over 3,041 suicide attempts by young people grades 9-12

  • 13.84% of youth (age 12-17) report suffering from at least one major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year (increased by 126,000 from last year’s dataset)

  • 60% of youth with depression do not receive any mental health treatment (2021 The State of Mental Health in America - MHA)

2sLGBTQia+ youth are suffering even more

According to The Trevor Project’s National Survey on 2SLGBTQIA+ Youth Mental Health 2023:

  • 41% of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including half of transgender and nonbinary young people. 14% did attempt suicide.

  • 60% of 2SLGBTQIA+ young people reported that they have felt discriminated against in the past year due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

2SLGBTQIA+ youth who had access to spaces that affirmed their sexual orientation and gender identity reported lower rates of attempting suicide.

We can’t miss this chance to help young people become happier and healthier.

Brain science explains why adolescence is a vulnerable period.

We now know that adolescence is a period of high brain plasticity. The brain will never again be as “malleable” as it is during adolescence, making it more vulnerable to the psychological harms of stress and trauma.

Many mental health disorders emerge during adolescence (NCCP)

  • 25% of mood disorders like depression emerge during adolescence

  • Between 50% and 75% of adolescents with anxiety disorders and impulse control disorders develop these during adolescence

  • Existing mental health problems become increasingly complex and intense as children transition into adolescence

  • An estimated 67% to 70% of youth in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosable mental health disorder