Siblings host a virtual prom for students who can't attend in person
Mental Health Awareness month is here, and on May 2nd, two Atlanta-based siblings helped bring awareness to mental health through a virtual prom called We Are Well: Virtual Prom.
Video Transcript
HANNAH LUCAS: Hey, guys.
CHARLIE LUCAS: Hi, guys. I'm Charlie Lucas.
HANNAH LUCAS: And I'm Hannah Lucas.
CHARLIE LUCAS: And we're the creators of the award-winning Not OK app.
HANNAH LUCAS: It's Charlie!
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And we are proud to announce our--
(SINGING) ba da da ba--
We are well virtual prom.
CHARLIE LUCAS: This virtual prom was so important to us because the class of 2020 was kind of cheated. Graduations are being canceled indefinitely.
HANNAH LUCAS: We really just wanted to take back something that was stolen from the class of 2020.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(SINGING) Woo ooh, whoa.
I was always super competitive. By the time I got to middle school, I quit gymnastics. I also started getting dizzy spells. I started passing out.
But I was later diagnosed with a chronic illness called POTS. POTS is a dysautonomic condition that stands for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. It just means that when I stand up, the blood drains from my head and pool in my legs because my veins don't tighten to push the blood back up to my head.
CHARLIE LUCAS: I felt like I was helpless. I couldn't do anything for her. I didn't know what was wrong with her. There was just this intense dread and feeling like, what if she passed out, and I'm not there to catch her?
HANNAH LUCAS: And because of all that, I was bullied. I was harassed until one day, I had a suicide attempt. But luckily, my mom saved me in the midst of that attempt. And that is how I came up with the idea for the Not OK app.
CHARLIE LUCAS: The Not OK app was just a digital panic button that when pressed, it sends a text message to your preselected up to five closest contacts with your current GPS location and directions.
HANNAH LUCAS: I realized that I didn't ever want to end up in a position that was that low and that dark again. And I realized that I needed a tool to prevent me from getting to that crisis mode. I looked everywhere for this magic tool, this app, you know, that would instantly connect me to my support group. But I couldn't find it. So that's when I realized I had to create it.
CHARLIE LUCAS: Now, we have over 100,000 downloads.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Welcome to our We Are Well 2020 prom.
HANNAH LUCAS: Woo! We made it!
We decided to host this virtual prom on May 2 in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.
CHARLIE LUCAS: Virtual prom was held on Instagram Live. The first half was a--
HANNAH LUCAS: Digital red carpet.
CHARLIE LUCAS: Maxwell Jenkins, you might know him from "Lost in Space."
MAXWELL JENKINS: Thank you, guys, for doing this. It's such an important message. I tried to like get like my prom gear on.
HANNAH LUCAS: This is integral. [LAUGHS] Yes!
We had other people join our Instagram Live. And we asked them what their favorite self-care tips were and what mental health tips and precautions that they were taking during this time. We really wanted to shine a light on this graduating senior class and show them that we are here, we're together, and we're strong amongst all the chaos, you know. And it's OK. We've got each other. And congratulations.
CHARLIE LUCAS: Thank you. Thank you.
HANNAH LUCAS: You are this year's We Are Well prom-- prom king. How does that feel?
- Woo, woo. I appreciate y'all for putting all this together.
CHARLIE LUCAS: One thing that I hope that people took away from the virtual prom is it's OK to be not OK.
HANNAH LUCAS: Exactly.
CHARLIE LUCAS: That's our motto. It's OK to be you as long as you ask for help.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
