Make an
impact today

Your donation directly funds life-saving mental health programs and spaces.

Here’s how we put your support to work:

• Peer-Led Support Programs — We host daily mental health groups, creative expression nights, journaling sessions, and open mics led by trained peers with lived experience.

• Stay Café Operations — Your support keeps our mental health café open as a safe, stigma-free space for connection, conversation, and healing.

• Training & Certification — We offer Mental Health First Aid and Peer Support trainings to empower everyday people to become anchors of safety in their communities.

• Therapeutic Art & Events — Donations cover supplies and staffing for community-building events that promote healing through creativity and dialogue.

• Original Research — We’re building local data reports to hold systems accountable and push for better school-based mental health care across San Diego.

Every dollar helps create a culture where belonging is the norm — not the exception.

Email us and we will send you the details at alyvredenburgh@gmail.com

The Belonging Lab’s research and advocacy is led by Aly Vredenburgh, a mental health researcher, author of Out of Focus, and national speaker on youth mental health. She holds a Master’s in Social Innovation and has presented her work at international public health conferences.

She is supported by a passionate team of youth leaders, peer support specialists, and community advocates — many of whom have personal experience with suicide loss, depression, or navigating gaps in the mental health system. Together, they’re working to collect data, elevate unheard voices, and drive meaningful policy change across San Diego County and beyond.

We believe research should serve the people — not sit on a shelf. That’s why everything we do is rooted in lived experience and aimed at building a more connected, caring world.