Who We Are
After losing their son Braden to suicide in 2015 and with the driving question, “How did this happen to our boy?” the Titus family started the Thumbs Up Advocacy Foundation (TUF) to drive positive change to mental health and addiction from the grassroots level. TUF advocates for systemic changes from the current short-term symptomatic standard for mental health care to a preventative model of long-term sustainable health, happiness, and well-being with the goal of reducing the number of suicides. TUF works to create a culture that speaks to living in recovery rather than one of being ‘treated’ in addiction. TUF engages in state-of-the-art collaborative mental health pilot projects that take theoretical recommendations and move them into practice.

What We’re Up To
TUF’s 2020-2021 successful Harmonized Health (HH) project identified the unaddressed need for a tactically deployed Community Care Team which TUF is ready to test once funding is available.

TUF recognizes the need for placing greater focus on the 95% of a person’s life that occurs outside clinical appointments. A Community Care Team helps improve mental health knowledge and bridges the time between when professional help can be obtained. This approach removes silos and barriers, allowing a better probability of landing at the right agency at the right time for the right support. The model can be a resource-saving approach through the likelihood of reducing levels of intervention required by other healthcare and community service professionals. Visit our website to learn more about the HH project and to watch a client testimonial video.