Welcome. Thank you for wanting to learn more about our Why.
.
It's Personal
I'm Renata Hill, the publisher of Moodfuel. I started this endeavor to support marginalized neighbors in Colorado who struggle in accessing (or even considering) mental health support for themselves or their loved ones. I get it. Sometimes, I live in a space of frustration, despair, anxiety, impatience and depression due to my own mental illness and neurodivergence. It’s tough to deal with healthcare bureaucracies or to connect with culturally competent helpers who really see us, listen without judgment and relate to our struggles.
Most importantly, I’ve lost family, friends and colleagues to suicide. Each of these wonderful people chose the ultimate disconnection, I think because they couldn’t navigate their emotional pain and sense of isolation. When hope disappears, what is left?
In honor of the disconnected and disenfranchised, I launched Moodfuel. Our goal is to ensure that every resident in Colorado, regardless ethnicity, gender identification, sexual orientation, culture, age, ability, geography, health, personal history or socioeconomic status, deserves the opportunity to create a path toward mental wellness in a way that works for them or their loved ones.
It's a heavy lift. The mental health landscape is rocky in Colorado. Ironically, although we're marketed as the "healthy living" state, recently, 1.8 million of our residents self-reported mental health needs and the number continues to grow. Of those residents, a quarter of them – hundreds of thousands of people we know – were unable to connect to real support and that number is growing, too.
.
Our Mission. Our Promise.
How do you find trustworthy connections where you're seen, listened to and valued? That's the positive, energetic space in which Moodfuel operates. We aspire to transform the rocky landscape by providing information, stories and resources. Our newsletter, website, Resource Guide and social content empower readers as they learn about solutions, make useful connections and build resilience.
You'll read about other folks with the same lived experience as you who are thriving. You'll find peers and counselors who want to listen without judgment so you can share your burden safely. You'll learn about neighbors who are changing Colorado's rocky landscape for the better so you can feel hopeful. Plus, there's info on mental health policies, legislation, programs and events around Colorado.
We're here to show you the who, what, where, when and how of finding the support you need when you need it, especially if you experience discrimination or live with little. Our inclusive, solutions-based information, storytelling and resources will guide you toward your own path of healing and resilience.
Culturally Competent Hybrid
Moodfuel is young and small, but you'll find that we're different from other information sources. Our hybrid model combines journalism with storytelling and supportive content as a way to encourage and inform Colorado neighbors who’re struggling.
Only people with diverse lived experience, ethnicities, ages and abilities are involved in Moodfuel. It's the reason our motto is "For People Who Struggle, By People Who Struggle."
That diversity powers our cultural competence, but also makes us accountable to you. Therefore, we always will:
- Operate with respect and without judgment because we, too, have experienced discrimination and marginalization
- Approach communities with an intentional awareness of mental distress because we recognize and acknowledge the long-lasting effects of trauma in ourselves
- Listen actively as people share their stories because we are honored to be the recipients of these precious gifts of trust and personal history.
Smashing Stigma
The struggle sucks, yet reaching out can be scary. Does fear add to your struggle – fear of being judged (or judging yourself), of others thinking you're weak (or maybe you see yourself that way)? Moodfuel smashes stigma by normalizing the discussion of mental health. We talk about it in the same way everyone talks about physical concerns, like heart disease or high blood pressure.
We acknowledge the real overwhelm and pain of mental distress. We also realized in our own lived experience that the more we talk and learn about these emotions, practice healthy coping skills and connect with people who understand us, the better we’re able to manage the challenges life throws at us. So, smashing stigma really means developing resilience.
.
Our Vision of Colorado
We envision a Colorado where connection and mental wellness are accessible for every resident and neighbors feel capable of supporting each other as a way to improve their own health.
.
Our Values
• We believe in content and resources that place the needs of neighbors first
• We believe in accountability, especially to members of our most vulnerable communities
• We value the stories, strengths and lived experience of all Coloradans, especially those who struggle
• Our grassroots approach listens, learns, adapts and unites.
.
Our Ethics, Equity and Standards
Moodfuel is dedicated to inclusive, solutions-based information and resources and we are deeply grateful for your support of our efforts. We follow the ethics and standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News and the Society of Professional Journalists. In addition, we follow the American Association of Suicidology Suicide Reporting Recommendations and the Wildflower Alliance Conversations about Suicide principles.
We depend on gifts, grants, business sponsorships and reader subscriptions for funding, but our writing is independent from fundraising. Business sponsors understand that the editorial staff retains full control of all copy. Content is not shared prior to publication. Business sponsors should not expect preferential coverage, and Moodfuel may publish content with which they disagree. If we write about our funders or members of our Advisory Council, we will disclose the relationships fully.
In order to achieve our goals, we are committed to building and retaining a staff reflective of the diversity within our state. Their lived experiences will enable a high degree of cultural competency and transparent, authentic engagement.
We are committed to building an equitable, healthy culture to serve people from all backgrounds and to support Vision25, a movement led by the Online News Association, the Maynard Institute and OpenNews to establish an actively anti-racist and collaborative atmosphere. We follow sustainability practices for publishers of color as outlined by the Local Media Foundation's strategy.
In addition, we endeavor to tell the stories of LGBTQIA2S+ people fairly and accurately as outlined in the GLAAD Media Reference Guide.
For reporting in Indian Country, we subscribe to the guidelines developed by the Indigenous Journalists Association.
Moodfuel seeks to produce reliable, trustworthy content. Because we are human, sometimes we make mistakes. When we do, we will acknowledge our mistakes and correct them.
.
Donor Transparency
Moodfuel is registered in Colorado. Currently, we are pending nonprofit status from the IRS. Generous donors who believe in the importance of our mission to connect neighbors through information, stories and resources may give monetary or in-kind gifts, but these contributions are not yet tax deductible.
We do not accept gifts from sources who present a conflict of interest with our value of inclusivity nor compromise our independence.
We focus entirely on two commitments: to serve struggling Coloradans and to uphold public trust in the content we produce.
Organizational Support
We have received monetary or in-kind contributions from the following organizations:
Google News Initiative
Women's Foundation of Colorado
LION Publishers
Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
Founding Members
The following people valued our inclusive, solutions-based information, storytelling and resources so highly that they became Founding Members. They provided funding and validation. A deep and wide THANK YOU to:
Ruth Baron
The Estate of Hubert Hill
Steve Hill
Roger Rikkola
Glen & Lori Merica
If you would like to become a Founding Member, please contact us at MoodfuelCO@gmail.com.
.
The Peoples Before and Today
Today, Moodfuel operates on the ancestral lands of the Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), Newe Sogobia (Eastern Shoshone), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, Pueblos, hinono’eino’ biito’owu’ (Arapaho), Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ (Comanche), Diné Bikéyah (Navajo), Ndé Kónitsąąíí Gokíyaa (Lipan Apache) and Jicarilla Apache.
Our publisher is mixed Mvskoke (Muscogee). Therefore, we acknowledge and respect the Ancestors who resided here for millennia before European colonization – whose spirits permeate this land – and whose resilient, self-determined descendants, our Relatives, continue to steward it.
To learn more about the Indigenous Peoples who lived on and traveled across Turtle Island, see Native Land Digital.
