The Project HEAL-Help To Eat, Accept and Live

Project HEAL: Help to Eat, Accept and Live (www.theprojectheal.org) is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization, founded by two teenage girls who met in treatment for anorexia nervosa, that raises money for people with eating disorders who are not able to afford treatment and provides them with scholarship funds so that they can get the help they need. Additionally, Project HEAL promotes healthy and realistic body image in hopes of preventing future eating dirorders and inspires current eating disorder sufferers to believe that recovery is possible.

To date, Project HEAL has raised over $200,000 through fundraisers, grants, private donations and merchandise sales. All funds raised go directly to funding inpatient and residential treatment for eating disorders. Through a rigorous application and interview process, co-founders Kristina and Liana and the HEAL Clinical Advisory Board, comprised of four eating disorder specialists, select motivated and deserving applicants to receive the scholarship funding. To date, Project HEAL has funded the treatment of seven applicants.

To accomplish Project HEAL's secondary mission of promoting healthy body image in hopes of preventing future eating disorders and inspiring current eating disorder suffers to believe that recovery is possible, Kristina and Liana regularly speak at high schools, hospital programs and similar forums, sharing their personal stories and educating peers on the dangers of eating disorders and the possibility of recovery. They also spread their message through regular media and press appearances as well as their website and facebook pages and word of mouth resulting from their increasing visibility in the eating disorder community, they serve as mentors to both young girls who are battling eating disorders and those who are psychologically at risk for them due to low self-esteem and other factors.

Project HEAL has also been incredibly successful in widely communicating it's mission by establishing chapters at high schools and colleges and in communities around the country and Canada. There are more than 20 chapters at this time. Chapters are primarily focused on fundraising for our treatment scholarships however many also host events on the importance of positive and realistic body image