When Pamela Schuller was a teen struggling with Tourette’s syndrome and depression, a teacher asked her to write down one thing about herself that she loved. She couldn’t think of anything.

Recognizing the severity of Pamela’s isolation, the teacher encouraged her to participate in stand-up comedy workshops. Before too long, Pamela was able to fill in that piece of paper: “One thing I love about myself? My sense of humor.”

Today, Pamela is a Jewish communal professional and heads Here.Now., a new UJA initiative that creates safe spaces for Jewish teens to share their own personal mental health challenges. I had the privilege this week of hearing Pamela’s inspiring story and learning more about the program.

First, some startling statistics: one in five teens has a diagnosable mental health disorder. Between 20 to 30 percent of teens will have at least one episode of major depression before age 18. Suicide is the third leading cause of death amongst teens, both in New York City and nationwide. And the issue is every bit as prevalent in the Jewish community.

As Pamela noted, it’s a conversation we can’t avoid.

Faced with these daunting numbers, our Caring Department created a group to focus on the issue, and commissioned research to learn more. One important finding: teens wanted to be able to discuss these issues online, not in buildings.

And so, in collaboration with our partners the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services and 70 Faces Media, we created Here.Now. It gives teens multiple outlets, through videos, Facebook posts, and articles, to connect with one another and confide their struggles — all with the goal of destigmatizing mental health issues. For example, this posting on Kveller (a successful Jewish website we helped launch in 2010) showcases how one teen illustrates — literally — what mental illness looks like. The act of sharing helps to normalize difficult issues, and emboldens teens to seek help, which they can do by connecting with Here.Now staff.

Here.Now., which opened just this fall, has been an overnight success. On Facebook, Here.Now. already reaches 12,000 users a week. On Kveller, there are articles for parents written by parents (147,000 page views to date) and numerous teen submissions. And an online campaign in October encouraging teens to post one thing they loved about themselves (#OneThing) generated more than 600 responses.

Far too many of our teens have been unwilling to open up about mental health challenges. Here.Now. is an important step towards changing that.

Switching gears a bit, I’m delighted to provide an update on the launch earlier this week of Time for Good, our community-wide volunteerism initiative. At sites around the city, Long Island, and Westchester, almost 2,400 people of all ages came together to do good. I spent time at the new JCC Harlem with hundreds of people packing food packages for the hungry, and at the Educational Alliance downtown, where volunteers painted a center for the elderly. It’s difficult to describe the energy and enthusiasm I experienced in those places. I urge all those who participated to come back for more. And if you weren’t able to join, please check out the hundreds of upcoming opportunities here.

Our overarching goal — whether online, offline, and all the places in between — is creating inclusive Jewish community. Just like Pamela’s teacher, who listened, saw a need, and took action — we’re here so no one ever feels alone.

P.S. Whatever one’s political views, today we are all witness to something that can never be taken for granted — the peaceful transfer of power. At a time of heightened political polarization, we nonetheless stand united in appreciation of our cherished democracy and our shared abiding hope for a better tomorrow.

Shabbat shalom