Speak LOUD Project

11/18/2022

A statement from our CEO & Founder.

The ministry of presence is sitting face to face with those who need to feel seen, heard, and loved unapologetically.

08/10/2021

Speak LOUD Project aims at impacting legislation, research studies relating to youth mental health, advocating for a robust behavioral health system, and adequate access to care for an improved mental health system.

08/09/2021

07/31/2021

“No one would ever say that someone with a broken arm or a broken leg is less than a whole person, but people say that or imply that all the time about people with mental illness.”

Your identity is not defined by your diagnosis, but by how you courageously overcome the stigma related to it.

07/30/2021

Meet our Founder and Director, Constance Michelle Goodnight.

Ms. Goodnight has over twenty years of mental health experience in various nonprofit organizations, community and outreach programs, and inpatient psychiatric facility settings. Ms. Goodnight holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Psychology and a Masters of Arts in Human Services: Marriage and Family Counseling. She holds various certifications relating to Childhood Trauma, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and other Mental Health focused trainings.

She is a local member of NAMI Charleston in the low country, and holds many professional memberships, including a professional member of the National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists, and American Counseling Association.

She currently works at the Medical University of South Carolina, Institute of Psychiatry, on the child and adolescent inpatient unit. The Institute of Psychiatry serves our adult populations with just one floor serving our child and adolescent population. She serves as a council member on various councils as a representative for the youth population, including the Patient Family Advisory Council. Ms. Goodnight is a passionate advocate for the youth population and by her determined advocacy, the council began focusing on their efforts in helping our youth and their families navigate through hospitalization.

During her career, she has focused on advocacy, awareness, and empowering community unity to rally around those living with mental illness. Empowering them that their identity is not defined by their diagnosis. She has continued to notice a recurring trend that our youth do not know their rights, do not feel a part of the decision making process in their treatment, and do not feel seen or heard.

This is where the change happens. Speak LOUD Project was founded on the emphasis of encouraging and empowering our youth to tell their story, in their own words, and with their own voice; unapologetically.

To be given a platform and amplifying their voice, to be heard, to be seen, and supported by their very own community.