​ The Green Ribbon Initiative

​ After telling a faculty member I was diagnosed with ADHD, borderline personality disorder, and bipolar, they asked me: “Do I have to be worried about my students?” This question ignited my mission to break the mental health stigma on campus and in the community. I began using every class project to educate myself and others about mental health, and soon students began confiding in me, sharing their fears and struggles. This inspired the Green Ribbon Initiative. I proposed several objectives: a biannual Mental Health Fair to take place each semester, expanding Mental Health First Aid training for staff, Suicide ASIST training for faculty, establishing a Mental Health Safe Space, and placing fidget baskets around campus. These efforts grew into major campus-wide programs. We’ve held four Mental Health Fairs featuring 30 state resources for a two-day event, trained over 70% of Student Success staff in Mental Health First Aid, and created fidget stations and a sensory room. My world record 400 mile triathlon “Tri for Hope” raised $8,400 for suicide prevention training. I am using this money to fulfill my proposal objective and pay for faculty to become Suicide ASIST trained. These efforts earned multiple awards, including a Congressional Proclamation. 

Objective 1

·         We hold a Mental Health Fair at Delta College to share mental health resources with students, staff, and faculty every semester during exam week. ​

Outcome

​·         We have now held four Delta College Mental Health Fairs, bringing in 30 mental health resources from the state of Michigan. We turned this into a two-day event with 15 mental health resources on each day. I worked with students to make a commercial to send to staff, faculty, and students. During the event we sat with each of the resources and interviewed them on a loudspeaker in the cafeteria and on zoom. These interviews were recorded and later posted on social media to advertise to the community. We did this in front of the cafeteria so as the students ate, they could listen to the interviews and learn what each resource offers. I walked around and listened to the students talk. So many of them were talking about mental health. We broke the stigma and gave the school a safe place to talk about mental health as a community.
​ Please click the link below to watch the interviews from the mental health fair

Arizona State University 

Tiffany Murray
Showcases three of her practicum projects that she presents for her Masters of Social Work degree.
​Her #3 project was participating in the mental health fair. 
"Working at the mental health fair, I gained a lot of insight into the community as well as the community issues. I did a lot of professional networking in which I met many organizations that I could potentially work with some day. I was introduced to the leaders of various companies (some that were clinical) that I could potentially end up working with at some point. I got contact information for a couple of different agencies that were potentially interested in working together in the future. In addition to professional networking, I also got to know many people’s mental health stories. The man who created the mental health fair at delta college shared his own mental health journey and what it means to him at the event. "

Objective 2

 Increase the number of faculty and staff who are mental health first aid certified ​

Outcome

·         I was the catalyst for the vice president of Student Empowerment and Success. She made it mandatory for all of the staff in her department to sign up. Over 70% are now Mental Health First Aid trained. Unfortunately, she cannot make it mandatory for faculty. So, over this past summer I completed a world record four day, 400-mile triathlon from Hell, MI to Paradise, MI (330-mile bike, 5-mile swim across the Mackinaw Straits, and 65 mile run from St. Ignace to Paradise in 84 hours). We successfully raised $8.4k for Barb Smith Suicide Resource and Response Network. Specifically, the money will be for Living Works suicide ASIST training. I will record my story to inspire faculty to sign up, with the money raised covering some training costs.

​

Objective 3

Make a Mental Health Safe Space at Delta College.

Outcome

   I worked with staff in designating a silent room for students to visit when they become overstimulated. Many students with anxiety, ADHD, autism, or just life obstacles in general, sometimes need a quiet place. This room has positive coping skill tools along with mental health material for anyone to access and utilize.

​

Objective 4

​·         I will create fidget baskets around campus for students to have access to fidget tools.

Outcome

 ·         I wrote a proposal to provide fidget baskets around campus and detailing the positive impact they would have, including improvements in retention by giving students the tools they need to be successful. These fidgets were donated by the mental health resources that attended the most recent Mental Health Fair. Each basket will have a small sign to explain what fidgets are and the positive coping skill of using them. Also, the fidgets were all labeled with the local resources that donated them, thus giving students access to the resources when needed. I worked with staff and faculty to implement this. ​

​ Media, Awards, Public Speaking

​Awards and Acknowledgements:
  • The Green Ribbon Initiative was acknowledged in the Congressional Proclamation that I received from the United States House of Representatives, for the successful completion of the 2025 Tri for Hope, a world record triathlon during which I biked 330 miles from Hell, MI to Mackinaw City, MI. I then swam 5 miles across the Mackinac Straits. Lasty, I ran 65 miles to Paradise, MI. I raised $8.4k for Barb Smith Suicide Resource and Response Network. Delta College can make training mandatory for staff, but not faculty. This money will go toward providing LivingWorks Suicide ASIST training for up to 30 Delta College faculty members who volunteer to take the training.
  • In 2024, I was nominated and awarded the Michigan Rehabilitation Services Champion Award for successfully implementing the Delta College Mental Health Fair, which was the first objective of the Green Ribbon Initiative.
  • I was nominated and awarded the Kimberly R. Houston Leadership and Service Endowment Award in 2025. The Endowment provides the opportunity to explore aspects of leadership and/or service learning. I was awarded this Endowment to finish the steps of the Green Ribbon Initiative.  
Delta student fights mental health stigma
September 23, 2024
​deltacollegiate
By: Norman Corrion
UNIVERSITY CENTER, MICH. – Delta’s Tri-Sports and psychology club leader, Brandon Hillaker, has become a mental health champion, finding ways to improve mental health at Delta.
Hillaker has been living with mental illness for decades and takes every opportunity to share his story so others know they are not alone. Stigma kept Hillaker from reaching out for help; he attempted suicide at one point, leaving him with years of rehabilitation. He does not want anyone else to worry about mental health stigma.
“All I want to do is break the stigma and make it easier for someone else to talk about their problems and their mental health obstacles, and provide the resources they need to overcome their own obstacles,” says Hillaker.
Big day for mental health awareness at Delta
April 21, 2024
​deltacollegiate
The Mental Health Fair coming to Delta wants to break stigma and bring awareness to local mental health resources. 
Brandon Hillaker, founder of the Tri-Sports Club at Delta, has teamed up with other students, Delta staff and several local resources to bring a two-day Mental Health Fair to Delta. The event will take place Monday, April 22, 2024, and Tuesday, April 23, 2024, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.  
“One in five people have mental illness. Everybody knows somebody with a mental illness, if your child has it, your brother has it [or] your friend has it, this is the place to come get resources,” says Hillaker.  
Mental Health Fair coming to Delta College
October 4, 2024
deltacollegiate
Delta College will host a two-day Mental Health Fair starting Wednesday, Oct. 9, in front of the cafeteria.
The fair has two goals: to break the stigma around mental health and to spread awareness about mental health resources. During the event attendees can meet with and learn about several local mental health resources.
“One in five people have mental illness. Everybody knows somebody with a mental illness, if your child has it, your brother has it [or] your friend has it, this is the place to come get resources,” says event organizer Brandon Hillaker.

This is the training for faculty that the Tri for Hope funds will help pay for. 


​I am going to ask you two very difficult questions:
Have you ever known anyone who has died by suicide?
Have you ever contemplated suicide?
These are difficult questions for many to answer, and even harder to ask...but should they be?
If you saw someone holding their chest on the ground, would you run to them and ask, “Are you ok?” If you saw someone choking at a restaurant, would you try to give them the Heimlich maneuver? If you saw someone fall flat on their face and stop breathing, would you give them CPR?
When I attempted to kill myself in 2013 all the invitations for a suicide intervention were there —giving away possessions, self-medicating, impulsive and reckless behavior, self-harm, extreme behavior changes— everyone saw them, but no one was trained to identify them.
“Trained to Identify” are the key words.
To read the rest of the article please click the link below.
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