Our Founding Story

In 2021, a practicing clinician with several thriving mental health practices recognized a gap in how communities engaged with wellness. Therapy sessions inside office walls were beneficial, but too limited to meet the wide range of needs unfolding in the community. This became even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when isolation underscored the urgent need for connection and resilience. That realization led to the creation of ViewSpire—short for “Views that Inspire”—a grassroots project using apparel and neighborhood initiatives to spread encouragement and positive mental health messaging. It wasn’t built in pursuit of profit, but as a way to connect communities and impart hope. That spark of hope grew to become Words of Hope 4 Life.

At the same time, the idea of a “mascot for kindness” came to life. Nine-year-old Avery Schwartz, the son of one of the founders, used simple paper cut-outs to create what became known as the Hug Buddy. The Hug Buddy postcards quickly became the ultimate COVID-safe kindness initiative, inviting people of all ages to spread positivity during a time of deep isolation. Avery’s creativity and heart captured the attention of local media and county leaders, turning the Hug Buddy into a symbol of resilience, comfort, and connection.

To build on this momentum, ViewSpire sought to engage the community on a larger scale. In under sixty days, the team organized its first community festival and broke the world record for the longest line of postcards. Hug Buddy creations intertwined into a ribbon of solidarity and hope, proving that joyful gatherings could be powerful vehicles of connection, collaboration, and stigma-free wellness.

The success of that event led to the formal incorporation of Words of Hope 4 Life as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Since then, the Hug Buddy has remained at the heart of the organization, with more than 100,000 postcards donated—always free to the public—so that anyone, anywhere, can share and receive messages of kindness.

Today, Words of Hope 4 Life stands as the creative force behind **ViewFest—the world’s largest mental health and prevention festival—**and the originator of the Event-Based Community Intervention (EBCI) model. EBCI transforms large-scale gatherings into catalysts for resilience, connection, and stigma-free support. The founders remain closely engaged, and the beloved Hug Buddy continues as a connective thread through every endeavor, reminding us that even the smallest kindness can blossom into a movement capable of changing the world.