To Write Love On Her Arms

To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping others who are struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. Jamie Tworkowski founded this organization on the principle that love exists in different ways for everyone. TWLOHA collaborates with many bands, and its members and travel on tours to talk to people about these issues. TWLOHA had a booth at every stop on the 2007 Vans Warped Tour. Also, in April 2008, Hot Topic started carrying TWLOHA shirts, which made them the first to sell TWLOHA merchandise, and within two weeks, they were the best selling shirts at Hot Topic. Lastly, Jamie Tworkowski was the first non-artist who, not only was nominated, but won a Good Woodie award on the 2009 MTVU Woodie Awards, which is an award show.

To Write Love On Her Arm has a very interesting story. Founder Jamie Tworkowski’s friend, Renee, was having trouble with addiction, self-injury, depression, and thoughts of suicide. To help pay for her treatment, Jamie and a friend made a Myspace page entitled ‘To Write Love On Her Arms’, which was the name of the story that he wrote about Renee. They sold t-shirts in Orlando, Florida. Bands such as Anberlin and Switchfoot started wearing the t-shirts from the beginning. TWLOHA started receiving messages from many young people about their struggles, which were somewhat like what Renee had faced. Soon, TWLOHA became a non-profit organization under Fireproof Ministries in October of 2006. On September 1st, 2007 TWLOHA Inc. was created as a non-profit organization.

For those who don’t know, addiction, self-injury, depression, and suicide are serious problems. One hundred twenty-one million people worldwide suffer from depression. Eight million of those people are in the U.S. Two-thirds of those suffering never even get help. Untreated depression is the number one cause of suicide, and suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens. Each year, only ten percent of the Americans suffering with addiction seek the help they need to live productive lives. Untreated depression can often lead to self-injury. There are eight forms of self-injury including: Cutting (the most common form), burning, picking or interfering with wound healing, causing infection and poison in oneself, punching / hitting, inserting objects into the skin, bruising or breaking bones, and some forms of hair pulling. Lastly, it is estimated that twenty percent of teens will suffer from depression at least once by the time they reach adulthood.

As you can see, seeking help for these issues is very important. TWLOHA doesn’t help you directly, but it aids in connecting young people with treatment centers, and places to contact when they really need to talk to someone. TWLOHA offers hope to others struggling by helping them have faith in love. To Write Love On Arms helps because they care for everyone, and want them to believe they are loved.

To Write Love On Her Arms is a hero because they really help save people's lives. They preach that you are loved, and when you’re suffering with addiction, self-injury, depression, and suicide, it is wonderful to know that. There are lots of people in this world that are going through these issues untreated, which only makes it worse. To Write Love On Her Arms is an amazing organization that is a hero to many people.