My brother Skip Johnson, died by suicide in 2015. His death had a profound impact on my family and me. It was the catalyst for us to take action and create a foundation that helps individuals who have experienced suicidal ideation or attempted suicide to heal and recover. Our foundation was established with the aim of providing scholarships to suicide survivors that offer relief, therapy, and holistic ways of healing through nature and community. We believe that survivors need to reconnect with themselves, with others and nature to heal and recover. Our services are available to any individual who has survived a suicide attempt or has lost a loved one to suicide.

We seek funding to begin our work and expand our reach to more survivors of suicide. Any funding received would enable us to offer more scholarships that provide relief, therapy, and holistic ways of healing through nature. The scholarships would cover the cost of retreats, workshops, and therapies aimed at helping individuals recover and establish a connection with nature.

Our scholarships are designed to provide a wide range of healing modalities, including art therapy, yoga, meditation, hiking, and group therapy. These modalities have been identified as effective methods of treating mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and trauma. In addition to this, we also aim to take care of any immediate needs of any families that have been struck by this tragedy as well.

We envision our scholarships offering survivors a chance to connect with others who are going through similar experiences. This community building aspect is crucial as it helps individuals feel heard, seen, and understood. We believe that shared experiences can often be a powerful catalyst for healing, especially when it comes to mental health issues.

Furthermore, the Skip's Foundation scholarships will enable individuals to experience the healing power of nature. Immersing oneself in nature has long been recognized as a powerful tool for improving mental health. Studies have shown that spending time in nature can reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.

EIN: 87-3324308

I’m gonna tell you a quick story about how the @skips_flips mission came to be. Pictured here are my good friend, both of us Ryans… Ryan squared I guess? In January 2020 he had invited me out to a retreat in Poland. From an outsider looking in, this appeared to be some sort of extreme trip for only a crazy man. That’s why I said yes!!! I was still sort of coming out of my own depression. After my brother Skip Johnson‘s death I had my own sort of spiral of grief. Going into this retreat, I was thinking this was going to be an absolutely crazy testosterone filled weekend. 

Well…

I left with an absolute, completely, and profoundly different experience from my expectations of this retreat. This retreat took me out of my bubble of grief, introduced me to absolutely wonderful people, New ways of thought, and challenged my mindset and beliefs. I found myself leaving in growth mindset. After this experience I thought to myself how can we re-create this experience to potentially help others through their grief, their depression, their anxiety, and other mental illnesses. Ryan (Mickle as we call him) came up with the idea of scholarships, so we went from there and we decided we would take 10% (a starting point) of every Skip’s purchase and put it into a scholarship program to provide others in need with this type of growth mindset/spiritual retreat experience amongst other more general needs to the individual. We hope that as we get the word out… which we need your help to do, we can all contribute to more people’s well-being through this method of non-conventional, individual medicine. #SuicidePrevention #MentalHealthAwareness #MentalHealth #PhysicalHealth #Adventures #MindsetMedicine #Mindset #Growth #endthestigma

As a part of my transformation I began running to find peace. This helped me maintain a healthy body but most importantly, helped me to maintain a healthy mind. While competing in runs, I ran into a new ultra comfy, high support, style of flip-flop. Skip's were designed to be supportive and supple, with two arches, a roll step technology, perfect as an athletic recovery sandal.

These aren't just sandals. They aren't the boring brown or black kind. They get attention. They start conversations with strangers. They make us all connected.