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Planning our first event was exciting and scary at the same time. We were so excited to take the next step for Hope After Polygamy in establishing itself as a nonprofit and give out the first Hope After Polygamy Scholarships. We were all in new territory as founders of this nonprofit, but our hearts were in it to give what we could and make it all come together. We’d teeter into worries wondering if anyone would even come, you know all the worries you have when planning a big event. As founders we do not take any income from the nonprofit, so we have each been juggling our personal day jobs while establishing and planning the event. So to say the least, we were very nervous about it all coming together. We were certainly not prepared for the insurmountable support that came in that night. We over sold our event, having to close our ticketing, and we made enough to give each of our scholars $500 or more to begin or continue their journeys into their education after polygamy.
Seeking mental health after leaving polygamy, in the beginning, is often in the form of our own research through "self-help" books that help us process our traumatic pasts. Some of these books even help us retrain our brain in different ways to learn skills we did not get to learn in polygamy. For many of us, books were a stepping stone into accepting professional mental health and also prepare us to socially interact with people in a better way. Knowing this, and knowing many of our fellow ex-polygamists and ex-cult members are on this journey of self-discovery and beliefs, we each wanted to share 3 of the most impactful books in our lives and how they helped us. “Hopefully this will inspire some of you on similar journeys to have a good list to start your personal mental health transition.” - Hope After Polygamy