My name is Emerson Daley. I am one of the co-founders of Daylight Initiative, and I’d like to tell you a little story about the title of co-founder.
When I was younger, my sister, Antonia (who was roughly seven years my senior and whom I called Sissy), and I liked to pretend that we co-founded a news station called The Daley News – a real knee slapper, I know. We set up our Dad’s phone to film our first segment when Sissy introduced me as the co-host of the Daley News. At five years old, I didn’t understand that being a “co” of something did not make you less important, but was rather a means of expressing collaboration. I stopped the recording and argued vehemently with her over the title, refusing to quiet down. When she could finally get a word in, she explained that “co” did not mean what I thought it did, and that we were equals in her eyes, partners. Considering I idolized my sister completely, it’s safe to say that I was then content with being a co-founder, a co-host, a co-anything.
Sissy died tragically and unexpectedly two weeks after her high school graduation and four months prior to my eleventh birthday. She was my best friend and I am heartbroken every day to have lost her. I’ve been lucky enough to be in therapy since her death, and I am honestly not sure what I would have done or who I would be right now without it. It’s easy enough to say “my sister died.” The hard part is trying to work through what that means and understanding everything I’ve experienced because of it. Therapy has provided me the ability to navigate this devastating trauma and cultivate resilience instead of drowning inside of it. It has provided me an invaluable opportunity for exposure and growth when all I felt like doing was hiding and wilting. And that is my goal with Daylight — to provide for those who may not otherwise have access to it the same opportunity to grow up and out of the darkness of trauma.
So while it may seem like there are just two co-founders of Daylight Initiative, in my heart there are three – Wells, me, and my Sissy.
Antonia Joanne Daley
❤️2/3/00 – 6/19/18❤️
My name is Wells Allison, and I am from Charlotte, NC. I am fortunate enough to work with an amazing therapist who I lean on to help me work through difficult times and transitions. One week when I was a Freshman and learning how to manage my own calendar, I missed a session. My parents decided to teach me a lesson by making me pay personally for the missed therapy session. It was at this point that I realized how expensive therapy is and how lucky I am that my parents are able to pay for this important service. When talking to my grandmother who was a social worker in the public school system for thirty tears, she told me how often her students needed counselors but either the school or the family could not afford them. When reflecting on this with my best friend, Emerson, we decided that it was not fair that there are other adolescents that need therapy but cannot afford it, so we started The Daylight Initiative.
Donations can also be made out to Daylight Initiative and mailed to the following address:
Daylight Initiative
181 Bellevue Avenue, Suite 318
Newport, RI 02840
Daylight Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit so your donation is tax-exempt.
