My name is Valerie Ross, the current International Ms Delaware 2024. Mental Health Awareness IS my platform and is an extremely important topic to bring awareness to. I am so excited to partner with the Beauty for Good organization and their Still She Rose campaign because I genuinely can connect with this cause.
As a victim of abuse growing up, I became suicidal at 13yo and felt I had no worth. I can authentically relate to those who feel that suicide is not only the best choice for themself, but that it will be a benefit to everyone else around them. It took me years of therapy and deep personal work to love myself for who I am as a person and the gifts I have to share. Recently after the break up of a 21 year marriage, I spiraled into a dark depression that interfered with my daily life and my job. I didn't want to get out of bed, I couldn't stop crying, and felt my life had no meaning. Having worked so hard to get where I am today, I knew I needed to take some very serious time to focus on my mental health and get right again. Despite the fear of what others might think of me, I decided to take a 10 week "Life" sabbatical and did intense therapy, spent a lot of time in silence and deep reflection and came out the other side of it stronger than ever. I chose to put my mental health FIRST and I was able to rise again.
Please consider donating to this cause on behalf of my platform of Mental Health Awareness. I appreciate your support and love as I embark on this journey to International Ms in September 2024 as this is more than a pageant for me, it's a personal mission. Love to you all. Valerie
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Still She Rose is a wellness program for leaders, women and teens in the pageant industry. Funded by the B4ACUSA Foundation, wellness program initiatives are open to all pageant community members.
The ROSE is symbolic of the spirit that grows within each of us when proper care and attention is applied.
Together, we can encourage wellness through self care, positive body image, renewed self esteem and affirmation of one's identity beyond pageantry. We aim to engage in a conversation of support, honesty, reflection and awareness, in order to promote wellness as the foundation of the pageant industry.
Because each of us can say, She Struggled; and Still She Rose.
