In 2017, Crystal Adams-Scott, 49, experienced a devastating loss when her husband, Corey, took his own life. This left her a widow and their son, Noah, without a father.
For the next two years, Adams-Scott was driven by anger and survival, doing everything she could to keep the family together — until COVID struck. Scott soon began to understand what her husband must have been going through.
“Covid hit, I was literally sitting there and I didn’t want to live, and I understood for that moment what my husband was feeling,” she said. “I had such a deep empathy and pain for his challenges through that.”
Since 2021, Adams-Scott has channeled her pain and anger into founding Hope Unite International, a non-profit organization where she serves as an executive director that is dedicated to helping prevent suicide and self harm, spreading kindness, and advocating for trauma survivors.
Dr. Norman Wise, executive director of Living Water Counseling Center in Lake Worth, praised the organization for helping a patient he had.
“This group helped me get a client that was suicidal into a 30-day program,” Wise posted on the Greatnonprofits website. “This was after being baker acted and released twice in one week. The family and I are forever thankful for the ability of this group to make contacts and get doors open!”
Hope Unite International, located in Lake Worth, is run strictly through volunteers and donations from their support network, a roster of like-minded organizations and individuals that are involved in mental, physical, or spiritual health. Support network members contribute monthly donations ranging from $10 to $50.
Hope Unite’s dedicated volunteers, known as Care Coordinators, connect individuals to resources, distribute “You Matter” cards, run social media efforts, and actively promote the organization’s mission.
According to the CDC, there were 3,620 deaths from suicide in Florida in 2023, compared to 3,135 in 2020. This marks a significant 15.5% increase over a three-year period.
The Institute for Health and Evaluation has estimated that there are 740,000 global deaths from suicide annually ‒ one every 43 seconds. The magnitude of the loss highlights the growing need for mental health awareness and support.
Hope United began with Adams-Scott and her son printing positive affirmation cards to connect with others during the social distancing time of the pandemic. Whenever the duo went out, they would hand out a positive affirmation card along with a red rose to bank tellers, grocery store workers, and anyone they came in contact with.
Noah, 4 years old at the time, would walk up to someone, ask to give them a rose and tell them: “It’s the rose that never dies to remind you that you’re special.”
Seeing the positive reactions from people as they received the roses and affirmations, Adams-Scott realized she needed to involve more people.
She started creating her own cards with affirmations and the message “You Matter.” The red rose became purple, the color for suicide awareness and prevention. On the back of the original cards it said, “keep one, give one.” You would give a person two cards and encourage them to pass a positive affirmation to someone else.
“I thought in my heart, if my husband was given that message the day he took his life he could still be here,” Adams-Scott said.
This sparked a movement that went beyond South Florida, spreading to 39 states and 16 countries. Seeing the influence, Adams-Scott knew she needed to put systems into place to get the organization’s structure together.
Through the Hope Unite International website you can join the “You Matter” movement and get cards to share with others. There are two types of cards available: the standard paper cards and the plantable cards, which contain wildflower seeds as a symbol of life and a meaningful gift for the recipient. Due to the higher cost of producing the plantable cards, the organization requests a donation of one dollar per card.
“We’ve had someone put them in school lockers, gym lockers, because not everyone wants to go up to someone, we all are different, but everyone can be involved,” Adams-Scott said. “It’s one person, one act of kindness each day, doing it together — that we’re trying to inspire in communities.”
The “You Matter” cards have reached further places than just a United States classroom thanks to Hope Unite International volunteer, Fran Pojdl. Pojdl is a 64 year-old retiree with a passion for travel. Through her travels Pojdl has handed out these cards and photographed them in iconic recognizable places in Japan, Switzerland, and London, just to name a few.
During a trip to India, Pojdl attended a ceremony on the Ganges with religious people dressed in robes. She handed them cards, and they posed for pictures.
“It’s a random instantaneous connection of people with like minds and like mentality,” Pojdl said.
She hopes that more people will become involved with the organization by volunteering and donating.
“I think it fills a necessary void in the mental health forum, so I would like to help her in any way I possibly can,” she explained.
Dylan Bowerman, a 23-year-old emergency dispatcher, has also served as a systems engineer for Hope Unite for almost three years. He met Adams-Scott by chance, where a spontaneous conversation led to a discussion about her organization. Touched by its mission, Bowerman was invited to get involved and soon began offering his expertise in IT support to help advance their work.
“By having an organization that can not only hear them, but is also working with these mental health providers, social workers, and community resources, people can actually get connected, and we’ll facilitate that connection,” Bowerman explained.
Through the website’s self-care link, people have access to sleep music therapy, daily affirmations, and a stress and anxiety relief playlist. The website also offers a number of support and programs available. Their support directory has a worldwide network with organizations and individuals they have partnered with.
Hope Unite’s free support hotline provides individuals in crisis support. The care coordinator team deals with each client on a personal level, not just giving a client resources, but a case manager follows you through your treatment.
“When you’re in a traumatic headspace you can’t handle more stuff to do, you need someone to do it and that’s what our coordinator team and support network are all about,” Adams-Scott said.
Summer Jacob from Greenville, South Carolina, posted on Greatnonprofits, “Hope Unite has made such a beautiful impact on myself and kids. As someone who deals with mental illness…I know the You Matter cards can change someone’s whole day and who knows.. maybe save their life!”
Darlene Payne, is a disabled military veteran and single mother of two. During the pandemic Payne and her family were displaced and homeless for a year and half. Hope Unite International was able to help place her in a home, give routine check-ins, and advocate for Payne with the Veterans’ Administration.
“I share their organization every chance I get,” Payne wrote on the site. “While homeless in a hotel I referred other veterans to Hope Unite. I truly love the mission and dedication of this organization.”
Currently, Hope Unite is working on two new initiatives and is seeking funding to support them. One program, “Kids for Kindness,” offers a scientifically based approach to teaching kindness, self-care, and positive affirmations to elementary aged children during key stages of brain development. The second initiative, the “You Matter” app, is similar to “Kids for Kindness” but is geared for teens and adults.
Adams-Scott expressed her gratitude, noting that the“You Matter” movement is a testament of a family’s personal loss and struggle that became a global movement to reach and support people who are struggling with mental health.
“We’ve gotten so many messages from how this has saved people’s lives, changed peoples lives, and for me this is the biggest healing for me and my family, from taking life’s hardships and turning them into a purpose,” she said.
NOTE: If you or someone you know is thinking about self harm, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
