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September 5, 2024

NFL Alum Marlin Jackson’s Fight For Life Foundation Receives Grant for New Preventia Partnership Supporting Educator Mental Health and Well-Being    

Indianapolis Colts’ Kicking the Stigma Grant Supports Launch of New Initiative to Support Educators Across Multiple Schools

(INDIANAPOLIS) – September 5, 2024  – NFL Alum Marlin Jackson’s Fight For Life Foundation (FFLF), an Indianapolis not for profit organization that helps underserved youth develop by collaborating with educators to provide social-emotional learning programs, today announced a new partnership with Preventia, a leader in mental and behavioral health services, to offer an innovative model supporting teacher mental health and wellbeing for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years. 

The launch of this partnership is made possible through an investment the Fight For Life Foundation received through an Indianapolis Colts’ Kicking the Stigma Action Grant. 

This is the fourth year of the Action Grant program. The Jim Irsay family, owners of the Colts,  created the grants as a part of Kicking The Stigma, an initiative they launched in 2020 to raise awareness about mental health and end the stigma often associated with mental illnesses.

”We’re pleased to award a Kicking The Stigma Acton Grant to support Fight For Life and Preventia’s efforts to make a difference in the lives of educators and students, both inside and outside the classroom,” said Brett Kramer, Director of Kicking the Stigma.

“We are grateful for the Indianapolis Colts’ investment and their innovative approach around helping communities truly kick the stigma of mental health,” Jackson said. “We are also honored to collaborate with Preventia to address one of the most critical, but overlooked contributors to the mental and emotional wellbeing of K-12 students: their teachers’ mental health. If we invest in the educators, who are on the front line, they have more to invest in the students and increase academic achievement.”

Preventia is an award-winning, virtual first care solution that uses a care-driven, evidence-based approach to help clients intentionally focus on their physical and mental well-being through behavioral health and mental health coaching. 

“We are incredibly honored to join forces with Fight For Life to support our educators, who are often the unsung heroes in our communities,” Brian Schroeder, CEO of Preventia said. “The Kicking the Stigma campaign continues to raise critical awareness around mental health challenges. Together, we will create an environment where both educators and students can thrive mentally and emotionally.” 

Through this innovative model of collaboration, educators using FFLF’s Building Dreams platform will have access to Preventia’s board-certified mental and behavioral care providers to connect teachers with the right level of care when they need it most. 

Building Dreams is a cornerstone program of Fight For Life Foundation that helps youth serving organizations create an infrastructure to build relationships while also monitoring social emotional needs and behavior.  It is also a pathway to FFLF’s “Be A Blessing” Program, which provides resources and support to students, families, and educators who are using the platform. This grant and new partnership with Preventia enables heightened support for educators to focus on their mental health and well-being.

The 2023 State of the American Teacher Survey found that, throughout 2021 and 2022, teachers were twice as likely to report experiencing frequent job-related stress and difficulty coping with that stress than the general population of working adults. Twenty-three percent of teachers in the survey, administered by the RAND Corporation, said that they were likely to leave their job by the end of the 2022–2023 school year, with Black teachers significantly more likely to be planning to leave than their peers. Teachers who reported poor wellbeing were more likely than their counterparts to say that they intended to leave their job, and those who intended to leave cited stress and a sense of diminishing personal capacity to manage that stress as the primary factors in their decision.

The initiative will launch early 2025 with plans to expand to additional schools as the program grows. More details about the initiative will be announced later this fall. Both organizations are committed to long-term collaboration with plans to ensure sustained support for the well-being of educators and students alike.

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About Preventia
Preventia is an award-winning provider of virtual well-being services, dedicated to improving mental health and wellness through innovative technology and personalized care. Preventia’s mission is to make mental and behavioral health services accessible to all, empowering individuals to live healthier, happier lives. For more information, visit: www.preventia.care 

About Fight For Life Foundation (FFLF)
Founded in 2007, by former Indianapolis Colts cornerback Marlin Jackson, the Fight For Life Foundation helps underserved youth develop the social and emotional qualities needed for success. Since that time it has grown from the vision of founder Marlin Jackson into an independent 501(c)3 organization delivering services to vulnerable youth by providing social-emotional learning programs to more than 18,761 underserved youth.  In 2018, FFLF created Building Dreams technology, a comprehensive social-emotional learning (SEL) program that equips administrators with the data they need to support their teachers and students with resources to improve classroom management and student behavior issues. This includes engaging students with a fun, gamified program that rewards their responsible decision making and ultimately helps meet their needs. FFLF’s mission is to help deserving but underserved youth develop the social and emotional qualities needed to be successful. FFFL programs use technology, education, enriching experiences, and wellness activities as the foundation for positive youth development. For more information, visit: FightForLifeFoundation.org

About Marlin Jackson
Marlin Jackson is a former Indianapolis Colts cornerback. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, a social entrepreneur, and a lifelong-learner who sees every experience and encounter as an opportunity for learning. As a former collegiate and professional athlete, Marlin was groomed and developed within a structured, organized, and challenging environment. This experience of learning, in the classroom and in the arena of collegiate and professional football, caused Marlin to develop a unique perspective and skill set that is embedded in structure, organization, time-management, leadership, creativity, and passion. Over the years, Marlin has proven himself to be a goal-oriented, disciplined, and driven person who can do whatever is needed to help himself and others succeed. He has displayed these qualities throughout his life as a captain on the University of Michigan football team, in the National Football League with the Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles, as a sports analyst and sports radio show co-host, and now, as President of Fight for Life Foundation, Revive Investments, Revive Property Group, MarlinJ28, and Prepare to Succeed. In 2012, Marlin married his beautiful wife, Mrs. Nikki Jackson. Together, they have three smart, handsome, loving boys: Camden, Kingston, and Kash Jackson. Mr. Jackson is extremely passionate about his faith, family, and occupational purposes in life.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Chelsea S. Reed (Fight For Life Foundation)
E: sparrowreedcommunications@gmail.com
P: 317-353-3064 (mobile)

Eric Kammeyer  (Preventia)
ekammeyer@preventia.care
P:  260-602-7343