Tethr

Founder: Matt Zerker

Website: www.tethr.men (external link) 

Connecting men with real conversations.

tethr is a peer to peer support community for men. We provide any man regardless of race, sexual orientation, or economic status with a safe, barrier free space where they can share openly, provide and receive support, and connect with other men going through similar life experiences.

We are focused on easing the burden of the hidden men’s mental health crisis. Men are socialized to believe that we are not supposed to have emotions or struggle. This prevents men from speaking openly with each other about life challenges and, as a result, creates the impression that we are the only ones struggling. This means that most men are mentally and emotionally isolated and do not have a support structure they feel comfortable sharing with.

tethr provides a peer to peer support community in the form of a mobile application that allows community members to participate in threads on different subject matters, engage one-on-one in supportive conversations with other men experiencing similar issues, and build group chats so that men can form new support structures.

Our Founder, Matt Zerker, struggled with mental health issues his entire life. In January 2018, one of his best friends suddenly passed away from a pulmonary embolism and it threw him into a deep depression that forced him to take mental health leave from work and saw him unable to get out of bed. After trying therapy, medication, and a number of alternative treatments Matt was invited to a men’s group in November 2018 and his life was changed. For the first time in his life Matt felt like he could actually share openly with a group of men without being stigmatized or made to feel like less of a man for struggling. 

The greatest indication of male vulnerability is shown through suicide statistics as 75% of suicides committed are committed by men. By providing men with a community where the expressed purpose is to share openly about struggles and reach out for the support you need we are helping alleviate both the burden of emotional, mental, and physical isolation and letting men know that it’s okay to not be okay. 

Most importantly we want men to know that struggling doesn’t make you any less of a man, it simply makes you human.