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❤️ Elysia (Ee-lee-sha) Resilience & Suicide Prevention

@risewithelysia

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❤️Empowering Kids to Become Heroes
❤️Resilience & Suicide Prevention Specialist
🎤TEDx Speaker 📖Author
👏Nonprofit Founder @thehopehero

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And that’s a wrap!!!

@tedxsaltlakecity

#tedx #tedxspeaker #tedxsaltlakecity #suicideprevention #empoweringheroesforthefuture #hopehero

@thehopehero taken in Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center by @risewithelysia

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2 years ago

What an incredible night. Our hearts are full!

Our 4th Annual Hope Hero Red Sneaker Masquerade Gala was an amazing success, and we are still trying to find the words to express just how grateful we are.

To everyone who attended, donated, volunteered, sponsored, or simply believed in our mission, THANK YOU! Your generosity and support mean more than you will ever know.

A special shoutout to our incredible Hope Hero Ambassadors. These amazing young people are the heart of what we do. Watching them show up, lead with courage, and champion a message of hope reminds us exactly why this foundation exists. The future is brighter because of them.

To our Board of Directors, thank you for the time, energy, passion, and countless hours you pour into this mission. So much of what makes a night like this possible happens behind the scenes, and we couldn’t do it without you.

To our amazing sponsors, thank you for stepping up and investing in something bigger than yourselves. Your generosity doesn’t just make an event possible. It helps us reach more young people, build resilience, create connection, and remind others that they matter.

And to Elysia, the heart and visionary behind the Hope Hero Foundation, watching your dream continue to grow and touch lives is something truly special. What started as a passion to make a difference has become a community of people committed to bringing hope to others.

This gala was about so much more than a beautiful evening, red sneakers, and raising money. It was about people coming together, sharing stories, building connections, and reminding one another that hope is real, every life matters, and no one has to face life’s challenges alone.

From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for making this year’s gala one to remember.

The best is still ahead!

#HopeHeroFoundation #RedSneakerGala #HopeHero #YouthMentalHealth #SuicidePrevention by @risewithelysia

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10 hours ago

14 years of friendship & I still sit in awe of what God can do through one woman’s obedience. ❤️ This weekend I attended the 4th Annual Hope Hero Foundation Red Sneaker Gala in Layton, Utah. What a blessing to witness what my beautiful friend Elysia Butler has been building. She is CALLED to do this. God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called! YOU ANSWERED. ❤️

I’ve known this woman since 2012. We’ve built businesses, celebrated mountaintops & walked through valleys I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Birthdays, pool days, stages, retreats, funerals, grief & beginning again. Through it all, I believe the Lord’s hand has been on this friendship for something so so great.

Years ago, Elysia’s seven-year-old son attempted to take his own life. Later, her family lost her sister-in-law due to mental health struggles. As a mother & teacher, she knew something needed to change. What if we could reach children BEFORE the crisis? Equip them with tools, resilience & HOPE? ❣️ And that’s how a mission for HOPE was born.

The Hope Hero Foundation empowers children, teens & young adults to become the heroes of their own stories. In Utah alone, 108 young people ages 10–24 died by suicide in 2024. That’s 108 too many. Those aren’t just statistics. Those are children. Families. Empty seats at dinner tables. Those are God’s children.

🫶🏻 Elysia, I am SO proud of you. The Mom & wife you inspire me to be like. The teacher you’ve been. The friend you’ve remained. The woman who keeps saying YES to something bigger than herself. And what God has coming next? I don’t even have the words. BUT GOD. & DOUBLE PORTION. What an honor to witness the fruit of your faithfulness, my friend.

And YOU can be part of this mighty move of God. For just $10 a month, you can help equip more children with tools & HOPE before crisis strikes. Imagine hundreds of us investing in these children. Because they’re worth it. EVERY SINGLE ONE.

I love you, Elysia. Thanking God our lives crossed 14 years ago. The best is yet to come. ❤️ In overflow.

Become a monthly Hope Hero for $10: https://thehopeherofoundation.org/donate

Your story matters. And so do taken in Layton, Utah by @risewithelysia

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a day ago

“And then a hero comes along, with the strength to carry on…” 🎶

I’ve always loved Mariah Carey’s ‘Hero’, in fact when people struggle with my name I always tell them it’s like “Mariah Carey” but with an “S”. 😅

Anyway, last night, at the Hope Hero Foundation Gala, I was reminded how important that message really is.

We spend so much of our lives looking for someone to save us. Someone to make things easier, give us answers(this is me), or remind us that we’re strong enough to keep going.

But a lot of times the person we’ve been waiting for is the person staring back at us in the mirror.

The one who has survived every difficult day so far. The one who has found a way forward even when there didn’t seem to be one. The one who has fallen apart, pulled themselves together, and tried again.

And how many young people haven’t had the chance to recognize that strength in themselves yet? How many are struggling to see a future beyond whatever they’re facing today?

That’s why I love the mission of the @thehopehero
Preventing youth suicide by helping young people find hope, build confidence and resilience, develop meaningful connections, and become the heroes of their own stories.

Being your own hero doesn’t mean you never need help. Sometimes it takes someone else believing in you long enough for you to learn to believe in yourself.

Every person deserves that chance.
And every young person deserves to know that their story is worth continuing.

The hero lies in you. ❤️ by @risewithelysia

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2 days ago

Last night was incredible!! ❤️

But first, a little love for my family.
I could not do this without them!

They see everything that goes into this dream.

The long days,
the tears,
the last minute chaos,
and the heart behind it all.

They keep showing up,
pitching in,
and cheering me on.

Getting to share our 4th Annual Red Sneaker Gala with them means more than I can put into words.

Building something you believe in takes so much, and I am beyond grateful to have these people beside me.

I love you guys so much.

Thank you for helping me bring this dream to life and for being my home through all of it. ❤️

#family #dreams #hopeherofoundation by @risewithelysia

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2 days ago

Tonight was so great! I attended the 4th Annual Red Sneaker Gala: Masquerade. This organization helps teens become the hero of their own story with proactive suicide awareness. I loved the theme of “Behind every mask is a story. Your story matters.” That’s a powerful reminder to be real and show love to others, including yourself. by @risewithelysia

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3 days ago

Behind every mask is a story. And that story is not over. ❤️

I spent my evening at the Red Sneaker Gala supporting my incredible friend Elysia Butler (@risewithelysia )and the Hope Hero Foundation’s (@thehopehero ) work to save young lives through suicide prevention. You all know how deeply this mission matters to me.

After spending almost my entire life fighting suicidality, I know what it means to need someone to remind you that you matter. That you are loved. That there is still more of your story to live.

I’ve spent these last several years trying to help others believe those words. Helping sponsor and support this beautiful masquerade meant more to me than I can express.

Behind the masks were real people, real struggles, and stories still unfolding. The donations raised help young people become ambassadors for suicide prevention, carrying that message of hope to others who need it.

Hearing the stories shared tonight touched my heart more than I expected. And after everything these last two weeks have brought, I needed that reminder, too.

My story is not over.
I matter.
I am loved.
And I can keep going.

Thank you, Elysia and Hope Hero Foundation, for helping young people see a future worth staying for.

Thank you to those who remind me I’m never alone. To those who have helped keep me here during the hardest moments of my life. To everyone who has been part of my journey. And to everyone helping someone else believe they matter.

To whoever needs these words tonight: YOU MATTER. Your story is not over. And you deserve support as you keep writing it. 🦋

#SuicidePrevention #YouthMentalHealth #YouMatter #YourStoryIsNotOver #HopeHeroFoundation by @risewithelysia

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3 days ago

Gage is feeling 22!!!
Happy Birthday!
We love you so much!

You make our home full of laughter, more sports knowledge than I knew one person could retain, and a man I am proud to call my son!

#22 #happybirthday by @risewithelysia

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7 days ago

Finally finished painting my shoes for the RED SHOE GALA!!!
I’m so excited. It was definitely a labor of love 🤣

Do you have your ticket yet?! The Hope Hero Foundation Masquerade Gala is THIS WEEKEND!

The iconic Red Sneakers are a symbol of hope, courage, and bravery.

@risewithelysia created @thehopehero foundation to proactively prevent teen suicide by empowering youth to become the heroes of their own stories.

For the last 4 years I have watched her dedicate her life, to saving countless others. Please please click the link in my bio to purchase your tickets or donate to this worthy cause.

And, if you have any questions, I’m an open book. So fire away ❤️‍🔥 by @risewithelysia

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7 days ago

I’m sitting here in tears, just days away from another Red Sneaker Gala. ❤️

Another year of choosing the unknown. Of pouring my heart into something I believe in and trusting that we will continue to rise, even when I can’t see how everything will come together.

Am I scared? Sometimes, yeah. This purpose means so much to me, and there’s so much I’m still figuring out.

But I keep coming back to these kids. They need us to show up. To believe in them. To help them see a future worth staying for and know they have people beside them.

So here I am, showing up with tears, prayers, and a heart that refuses to stop believing.

Choosing the life I want to create. Choosing possibility. And praying I get to keep living this purpose and watching these dreams become something that makes a difference.

If you’ve bought a ticket, donated, volunteered, shared a post, or encouraged me along the way, thank you. You’re helping carry this dream.

Come be part of it October 10.
hopeherogala.givesmart.com⁠

#hope #redsneakergala #youmatter❤️ by @risewithelysia

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