When it comes to speaking out and up for Mental Health issues Fonda Bryant is the person you want in your corner.  She is a true advocate dedicated to educating anyone in her path. She speaks passionately and from the heart about mental health issues from first-hand experience and is not ashamed because someone identified her struggles many years ago.  She has a story that needs to be heard. She tells it in a way that is not only motivational and inspiring but helps people to open up about their own struggles and realizes, they aren't alone.

 

Fonda served on the state board of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) NC, volunteers with NAMI Cabarrus County, AFSP (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention), MHA of Central Carolinas, and started her own foundation in February of 2020 called Wellness Action Recovery, Inc.  A nonprofit organization geared towards putting in the work for mental wellness and recovery through positive actions.  

 

She has several published articles on Mental Health with NAMI National as well as the Charlotte Observer Mom's section and has written for the International Parking and Mobility Institute about getting her Suicide Prevention signs in parking decks across the country. She spearheaded getting the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) in 2018, onboard to have a Mental Health and Wellness Summit to bring student/athletes together with coaches to understand and find better ways of helping them cope with the pressures of being a student/athlete.  

 

She got WSOC TV onboard to do ongoing shows on mental health called, "Charlotte's Hidden Crisis”, filmed a mental health documentary on Depression with Silent Images and Depression Awareness, has worked with the NC Justice Academy putting her story and ideas on film to help better train police officers across the state of NC when they meet a person in a mental health crisis part of their BLET.  She was a breakout speaker at the 2020 Clemson University Men of Color National Summit.  Recently during the NC Stay Home order, she trained over a thousand people from 25 states and 5 countries in QPR (Question Persuade Refer) Suicide Prevention Training for free, but she isn't done; She continues to train anyone who wants to take the lifesaving training online and in person.

 

She has been awarded the 2021 Black Mental Health Symposium Advocate of The Year, 2021 Nexstar Media Remarkable Woman of Charlotte, out of 10,000 remarkable across the country, 2021 Nexstar Media National Remarkable Woman of The Year, MHA of Central Carolinas Outstanding Advocacy Volunteer Award 2019, Girls Too Women, Inc. 2019 Mental Health Advocate of the Year,  the CIT Advocate of the Year Award from CMPD in 2019, in 2018, she was named, by the Charlotte Observer's Charlotte Five as one of six women building the Charlotte Community, the Community Leadership Award from Genesis Project 2018, and also received the Let's Talk About It Peer Award from Eustressin 2018, for her work in the community with mental health and suicide prevention.

 

Fonda is well known for being a frequent guest speaker on numerous radio and television shows such as Good Day Charlotte, Spectrum News, Bounce TV, WCNC-TV, WBTV, WSOC-TV, MSNBC, PBS, Community Voices With Ron Holland, Patrick Cannon’s “At The Table”, Olympia D's Wellness Wednesday all on Radio One Charlotte, Community Focus with Linda Silver on iHeart Radio and Better Living with Chris Arnold on 105.3 in Dallas, TX, along with numerous podcasts. 

 

Her desire to STOP suicide compelled her to get parking decks across the Charlotte area to put up her Suicide Prevention signs to stop suicide and hopes the movement will spread across the US. She has been featured for Suicide Prevention signs in the Washington Post and the Boston Herald and People of Charlotte Community Magazine.  Her QPR Suicide Prevention Training has been featured nationally on CBS Weekend News and Essence Magazine.  She has quickly become the "Face in Charlotte on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.

 

Whether on television, in the newspaper, in magazines, or radio, her passion for mental health awareness, helping those who are suffering in silence and stopping suicide has no boundaries but she’s not DONE;