Photo credit: Peter Lyons Hall: Warwick High School Senior, Aina Sellier (center), flanked by elected officials and supporters: L to R: Judy Batista, founder Warwick Cares; Village of Warwick Mayor, Michael Newhard; Village of Greenwood Lake Mayor, Tom Howley; Greenwood Lake Trustee, Matt Veth; Warwick Town Board Member, Floyd DeAngelo; Town of Warwick Attorney, John Buckheit; NY Assemblyman, Karl Brabenec; Greenwood Lake Trustee, Chad Sellier.
By Peter Lyons Hall
What began as a high school senior project has grown into a movement that resonated throughout the Warwick Valley and beyond. Mind Matters, founded by Aina Sellier as her senior project, quickly evolved into a community-wide outpouring of support for mental health and depression awareness.
On Sunday, October 26, 2025, the initiative took center stage at Winstanley Park on Windermere Avenue in Greenwood Lake, NY, where Aina—joined by Warwick Cares and a wide range of community organizations—hosted an event that combined personal stories, professional insight, and vital resources. The day featured guest speakers, resource tables, and local food vendors, all focused on one goal: providing the tools and hope needed to transform lives touched by despair.
The event’s message—that no one is alone and that awareness can save lives—echoes findings recently highlighted in a World Health Organization (WHO) report on the global state of mental health. The report underscores that mental health disorders remain one of the world’s most pressing public health challenges. Anxiety and depression are the most common forms, disproportionately affecting women but deeply impacting people of all genders and backgrounds.
Perhaps most alarming is the global suicide rate, which claimed an estimated 727,000 lives in 2021, making it one of the leading causes of death among young people in every socioeconomic setting. Despite international commitments, progress remains insufficient—on the current path, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of reducing global suicide mortality by one-third by 2030 will fall short, reaching only about 12% reduction at the current pace.
The economic costs of untreated mental health conditions are equally staggering: depression and anxiety cost the global economy an estimated $1 trillion each year in lost productivity. Yet the WHO report emphasizes that the true cost lies in human suffering—families and communities diminished by stigma, silence, and preventable loss.
Events like Mind Matters show what can happen when a community refuses to remain silent. Through local collaboration, education, and compassion, Aina Sellier and her partners in Warwick are embodying the very type of multi-sectoral engagement and sustained investment that the WHO calls for worldwide. Their example demonstrates that addressing mental health requires more than policy—it requires people coming together to listen, learn, and lift one another up. “If this community initiative can help just one person, then I feel that our efforts have not been in vain,” she said.
In Greenwood Lake, on that October Sunday, that’s exactly what happened: a message of hope, connection, and resilience took root, proving that even a single student’s idea can spark meaningful change.
