AIR is changing one mind at a time. The Bakers and other AIR volunteers give their time and passion to fight the stigma of mental illness so that people will seek out help. It is time that we stop losing our youth to the perils of mental illness and suicide.

Attitudes in Reverse’s^® (AIR) message of normalizing mental health issues for teens is of vital importance in our society. Explaining to teens that mental suffering is common and can be treated allows them to feel better about seeking help. AIR prevents others from enduring the pain that the Bakers have suffered.

“I work with people with mental health issues every day. The thing that is most consistently sad to me is that they very often have waited so long to come in to get help because of the negative stereotypes about ‘mental illness’ and their fear that they will be considered ‘crazy’ or ‘psycho’. I have to wonder how many kids I am not seeing because they fear this judgment. AIR is changing this message to our teens. It is not an understatement to say that AIR is saving lives.

AIR has been a part of our family since its inception. My children embraced their message and carried it to their friends and schoolmates. I have seen the results in my community- more teenagers talking about mental health, accepting mental illness and seeking help when normally they would have been afraid. AIR has a positive influence on how people perceive and discuss mental health.

I was immediately impressed with AIR when I received a brief introduction to the organization. The more I learned, the more determined I became to support AIR’s vital mission. Everyone’s life literally depends on being educated about mental health and encouraged to seek help when needed. I thank the Bakers for developing their engaging program that could save lives and probably already has.

Everyone in my health class learned a lot from the Coming Up for AIR™ presentation. The stories of Kenny Baker and other people’s experiences with mental health disorders have a strong impact on us and the factual information is very important to have. We talked about what we learned for days. All students should definitely get this information.

People do not truly fathom how difficult it is to get up in front of a completely unfamiliar crowd and inform them of a cause that isn’t considered cool or ‘in’ with their daily lives. There isn’t a class for it and when given the chance, the crowd may realize that it has everything to do with their daily lives.