Vanessa Elias

Vanessa Elias knows what it feels like to seem perfectly okay, yet be profoundly lonely and struggling. She moved 28 times in her first 42 years. Her lack of community was hardest when she was raising a child with mental health challenges. She learned to build community by being vulnerable and asking for support. She shares these hard-won lessons as a parent coach, mental health support facilitator, and block party maestro.

Once settled in a privileged Connecticut town with excellent schools and super-involved parents, Vanessa saw how families were still struggling to feel supported and welcomed underneath the veneer of a successful life. To create connection and time for “free play,” she inspired neighbors to throw more than 40 block parties in one summer. Then she launched Block Party USA to support others across the country to organize block parties. “It doesn’t take much more than a crayoned invite, lawn chairs, and a cooler of drinks to gather neighbors.”

Parties can be the start of fostering well-being and a support network for stressed adults and kids. Vanessa has helped her community talk about and address mental health, addiction, parenting skills, and toxic achievement pressure. She led her town’s Youth Council and founded the Free Play and Wilton Mental Health Task Forces. She leads support groups for families coping with mental health issues for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and gives regular talks to parents, educators, and local officials.