KyleCares and JED: Helping Schools Support Student Mental Health Across New England

Kyle’s parents would never have guessed he was thinking about suicide.

Yes, he’d been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder at 9 years old, and with anxiety and depression in high school and college. But his parents saw his funny side come through most. He was always smiling, always the one to make others laugh.

But at 19, Kyle died by suicide.

The grief was overwhelming. But in that loss, Kyle’s parents, Jim and Sue Johnson, and their daughters Katie and Lauren, resolved to turn that tragedy into a mission. 

They founded KyleCares, a nonprofit dedicated to changing how schools talk about – and respond to – student mental health. Over the years, that has led to a meaningful and productive partnership with The Jed Foundation (JED).

Building a Movement in Schools

Since then, KyleCares has worked with more than 120 schools across New England, mostly in Massachusetts but now expanding in Rhode Island and Maine.

The organization provides grants to help schools bring in evidence-based mental health programs, launches student-led mental health clubs (more than 60 so far), and organizes annual conferences at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots NFL team, that bring together hundreds of teens to learn, share, and inspire each other.

“We want to work with schools to help change the culture, to create an environment that gives kids confidence to ask for help without hesitation,” Jim says.

Partnering with JED

It wasn’t long after launching KyleCares that Jim and Sue came across JED.

Jim remembers reaching out on a whim, unsure if anyone would even write back. But soon after, JED’s Chief Clinical Officer drove out to meet them in a coffee shop in Connecticut. They talked for over two hours, and that conversation set the tone for everything that followed. 

JED not only gave KyleCares encouragement, but a framework: a proven, evidence-based roadmap schools could follow to protect student mental health. Jim calls it “foundational” to their approach.

Since then, KyleCares and JED have worked side by side. JED brings the blueprint — comprehensive strategies like JED High School and JED Campus — while KyleCares helps schools put them into practice with grants, conferences, and student-led initiatives. 

Six years later, that partnership has helped dozens of schools build lasting cultures of support where no student has to struggle in silence.

The Impact

What started slowly has become what Jim calls “a movement.” 

Jim says it’s incredible to watch what happens after the conferences they organize: Students return to their home schools ready to make things happen. They start new groups, organize events, and find creative ways to keep conversations about mental health going at school. And more often than not, they’re the ones pulling teachers and even parents into the work.

For Jim, the real win is seeing students take what they’ve learned and keep it going, becoming advocates in college and beyond, and helping to break the shame and secrecy that too often exists around mental health for the next generation.

“The hope is that as more schools work with KyleCares and work with JED, neighboring schools and neighboring communities start to adopt a common language of how all students everywhere are being cared for and supported,” Jim says. 

“And then eventually you really change the culture everywhere.”

Find out how you can make an impact on youth mental health.

If you or someone you know needs to talk to someone right now, text, call, or chat 988 for a free confidential conversation with a trained counselor 24/7. 

You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741.

If this is a medical emergency or if there is immediate danger of harm, call 911 and explain that you need support for a mental health crisis.