In the evolving landscape of mental health, access to care remains one of the most persistent and complex challenges. The New York City–based nonprofit Project Healthy Minds is stepping into this space with an ambitious mission: to dismantle the three most significant barriers that keep people from getting help—stigma, difficulty finding care, and the cost of treatment. Founded in 2017 by Phillip Schermer, the organization is taking an unconventional but strategic approach, combining the reach of celebrity influence in mental health with the resources of corporate America to transform the way people enter the behavioral health system.
The timing could not be more critical. According to 2020 data, only about 46.2% of adults living with a mental illness received care. That means more than half of those in need went without support. This gap doesn’t just impact individuals—it weakens communities, strains workplaces, and affects the broader economy. By driving more people into treatment, Project Healthy Minds aims to improve public health outcomes and, in turn, grow the behavioral health marketplace in a way that supports innovation and long-term sustainability.
The Spark: How a Song Changed the Conversation
The inspiration for Project Healthy Minds came unexpectedly during a breakfast meeting Schermer had with friends in the music industry. These friends managed hip-hop artist Logic, who in April 2017 released the now-famous 8x Platinum single “1-800-273-8255”—the former number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
The impact of the song was both immediate and measurable. On April 28, the day of its release, the Lifeline recorded its second-highest single-day call volume in history, surpassed only by the day after Robin Williams’ death in 2014. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) even cited the song as a case study in its discussions about launching the new 988 crisis line, highlighting how celebrity influence in mental health can translate into real-world help-seeking behavior.
For millions, the song temporarily broke down the wall of stigma, offering both the encouragement and the information needed to reach out for help. As Schermer reflected on these results, a thought took root: what if the impact of such moments could be replicated, scaled, and sustained? What if an organization could systematically harness celebrity influence in mental health to make mental health resources as visible and accessible as other essential services?
Creating a Centralized Path to Care
From that seed, Project Healthy Minds began to take shape. Schermer and his team envisioned an easy-to-find, easy-to-use online platform—a single destination where people could discover credible, vetted mental health resources. Today, the Project Healthy Minds website functions like a marketplace aggregator, similar to Kayak or OpenTable, but for behavioral health.
Importantly, the organization focuses heavily on digital mental health companies and online resources. This is a deliberate choice, designed to address the speed-to-care problem and bypass the local access barriers caused by widespread practitioner shortages. In many parts of the country, finding an in-person provider can take weeks or even months. Digital tools, by contrast, can often be accessed immediately, offering a crucial lifeline during moments of crisis or need.
“The scale of the problem and the urgency of where we are right now demands an untraditional model,” Schermer explained. The goal is not only to connect people with care more quickly, but also to help reshape the digital mental health market into one that is both effective for patients and sustainable for companies. Here, celebrity influence in mental health campaigns can play a key role in driving public attention toward digital-first solutions.
Strengthening the Digital Mental Health Market
Beyond improving access, Project Healthy Minds is also thinking about market economics. One of the fundamental challenges facing direct-to-consumer mental health technology companies is that the cost of acquiring a customer is often higher than the lifetime value of that customer. This financial imbalance makes it difficult for innovative companies to survive long-term.
By driving more people toward digital tools—and normalizing their use—Project Healthy Minds hopes to boost adoption rates and create conditions where these companies can thrive. Celebrity influence in mental health can help reduce acquisition costs by amplifying visibility, encouraging trust, and sparking conversations that make audiences more open to trying digital tools. This, in turn, would encourage further innovation, improving the overall quality and range of services available to consumers.
Bringing Corporate America Into the Mental Health Conversation
While celebrity voices can capture attention and inspire action, the other pillar of Project Healthy Minds’ strategy lies in corporate engagement. With an estimated 41 million Americans accessing mental health benefits through employer-sponsored insurance, the workplace is a key battleground for improving access and affordability.
The challenge? There’s currently no standard “playbook” for how employers should address mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically worsened mental health conditions nationwide, but it also revealed that many companies were unprepared to respond effectively. Project Healthy Minds is now developing a set of best practices to guide employers, with the goal of making mental health benefits as established and non-negotiable as retirement planning.
Schermer envisions a future where businesses combine robust employee benefits with the public awareness power of celebrity influence in mental health campaigns. Just as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments have become mainstream in the past decade, he believes mental health benefits can follow the same trajectory—provided organizations can demonstrate a clear return on investment.
A Holistic Vision for Lasting Change
Ultimately, Project Healthy Minds is not just about individual connections to care—it’s about creating a cultural and economic shift. By tackling stigma head-on, making resources easy to find, promoting digital solutions, and redefining corporate responsibility, the organization is building an ecosystem where mental health care is accessible, affordable, and normalized.
It’s a vision where conversations about therapy carry no more shame than conversations about a 401(k) plan, where technology helps bridge the gap between need and access, and where businesses see employee well-being as integral to success. If celebrity influence in mental health continues to be harnessed effectively, Schermer believes we could see the beginning of a new era in behavioral health—one where the pathways to care are as visible as they are vital.
