The Arc12 Project: Open Lines was inspired and co-created by Howard University Senior Noah Thierry, bringing together HBCU students and young influencers battling severe mental health issues. The Arc12 Project: Open Lines philanthropic initiative also produces scented candies with proceeds benefiting mental health initiatives on HBCU campuses. Our beautiful candles are available for purchase at at arc12projectcandles.com.

Angie Ange, Director of Content for WHUT-TV says, “I am so proud, inspired, and energized by this unique and important program on Mental Health and rightfully excited to bring this outstanding programming onto all of our WHUT platforms.  Since we take Mental Health very seriously, the program’s openness, honesty, transparency, and relatability sets a new bar on creative and impactful mental health programming and that’s why we’ve chosen to feature this groundbreaking content so prominently on all our platforms.”

Sean Plater, General Manager for WHUT-TV says, “I’d like to thank the ARC12 Project for serving up such a powerful, dynamic, and educationally stimulating programming piece. I know it’s rawness and realness will serve to not only inspire, but it will save lives.”

HBCU GO co-founder and President Curtis Symonds stated, “We are proud to be the first network to support a revolutionary program around mental health among people of color.  The Arc12 Project: Open Lines excites our team because the idea and movement emanate organically from a single HBCU student and his father trying to navigate their own complex mental health journey.”

“We are proud to be a part of the Arc12 Project: Open Lines movement. Their vision is absolutely in alignment with our programming goals and mandates fostering education and consumer awareness around such an integral issue as mental health within the HBCU communities,” said Clint Evans, co-founder, and general manager, HBCU GO.

Howard University Senior Noah Thierry says, “I am lucky to have the constant support from my family and access to resources to help me battle my own mental health challenges each, and every day. I know so many others within my generation who aren’t as fortunate.  I am motivated to change the narrative with this magnificent movement through media and social/ grassroots platforms such as the Arc12 Project: Open Lines.”

“OPEN LINES” DISCUSSION TOPICS:

• • Suicide
  • Mental Health Awareness
  • How to cope with mental illness
  • It’s okay to have a bad day and why
  • How to seek help and get treatment
  • Dating and pressure to date or marry
  • Influence of social media on your daily life
  • The pressure to make money fast
  • The isolation of Covid
  • “How do I open up, and to whom?
  • Can men openly talk about their fears? If so, how?
  • The pressure to be number 1 in a climate where there is no room for number 2; when you must win the gold, “not” the silver!
  • The impact on your physical appearance in a cancel-culture society
  • Why can social media companies allow cruel things to be posted?
  • Why is the attempted suicide rate among black men so high? [statistics]
  • Being straight, gay, and other in 2023 and what that means in mental health