SMA has a clear mission to revolutionize the manner in which mental health and substance abuse disorders are considered by individuals, who suffer from these conditions.
Using Sports and Entertainment as the vehicle, SMA has taken the social responsibility to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and substance use disorder. We leverage the brands and platforms of current and former professional athletes, community leaders, and subject matter experts to reduce the stigma and raise awareness related to these two social issues.
SMA raises awareness about mental health and substance use disorders in a variety of ways. It creates unique and proprietary media content on its website in the form of videos, made available over a digital network that provides information and reduces stigma.
SMA has reached over 10 million people through traditional and social media.
These informational vignettes are typically interviews with current and former professional athletes who share their relative personal experiences. SMA showcases interviews with community healthcare facilities and frontline workers who are experts in the treatment of these disorders.
In addition, SMA uses its platform to reach elementary, middle and high school students. For the past 5 years, SMA has hosted thousands of students in and around Metro Detroit as well as Northern Michigan communities. These events are called Sports Impact Luncheons, and are documented for the repurposing the messaging throughout multiple school systems.
SMA has also established The Community Partnership Initiative that involves an interdisciplinary platform which allows industry professionals and individuals in long-term recovery to share ideas regarding the challenges pertaining to mental health and substance use disorder.
As part of the Community Partnership Initiative, SMA introduced “challenge coins.” Challenge coins are incentives to reward the coin holder’s commitment to community outreach. It requires those who do not possess their challenge coin to donate time, talent, and/or resources to raise awareness around mental health and substance use disorder.