Our Story
The Tommy Cable BrightLove Project is a non-profit organization that aims to improve and save the lives of young adults impacted by mental illness, through solidarity, education, and collaboration in the fight for better access to treatment.
Our goal is to build a peer support network that helps young adults find the resources needed to manage mental health challenges and thrive in any environment, especially during the transition to independence beyond high school.
We are a community of people who care, and want to share information and support, because we believe that mental health matters, and that we can manage it better together.
We are NOT medical professionals, and the information we share is not intended as a substitute for seeking the advice of a qualified physician! If you are in a crisis and need immediate help, please call or text 988.
Our Mission
To connect young adults with peers who care about mental health so that they can lift each other up through community, shared experience and strategies.
To embrace the therapeutic power of music, and promote musical events as a means of reducing the stigma associated with mental diversity and illness.
To fight for timely psychiatric services and treatments for young adults with emerging mental health issues.
To promote the emotional healing benefits of therapy dogs and ESAs, especially on college campuses.
Our Vision
… is a world where mental illness is viewed the same as any other physical illness; where communities are educated about mental diversity and disorders; and where young people are empowered to ask for psychiatric help when they need it - and can access that support when they ask.
Who Was Tommy Cable?
Tommy was our beautiful, goofy, talented, funny, and immensely kind son/brother/friend, who died from an accidental overdose shortly after turning 19.
The 18 months leading up to his death were filled with chronic physical and mental illness and pain.
They were also filled with enormous courage, great achievement, and determination to keep trying to fix his escalating mental breakdown.
Repeatedly, he tried to find help; repeatedly, the system let him down.
During that time, he still tried to be there for us — his family, his friends, his colleagues, his dogs. Even in the hardest moments, he kept trying, sharing hugs, jokes, playing in the band, finishing the arrangement for his sister’s wedding, beaming with pride at his friends’ achievements, and, above all, supporting his friends through their own dark times.
After he died, we were inundated with messages from people whom Tommy had helped. Of course, we knew he was kind, but we hadn’t realized the extent of his gentle support, how many lives he had touched, and how many friends he had quietly raised up.
Why Set Up the BrightLove Project?
We decided to embrace Tommy’s legacy of kindness and resilience, and to use the painful lessons learned from his mental health journey to create an organization that will help other vulnerable young adults find the support and services that he couldn’t find - support and services which could have saved his life, and hopefully will save others.
We are deeply grateful for the help we have received in this endeavor, and hope you will join us!