HeartSupport’s 2026 Goals
How do you follow up a year as massive as 2025?
By going even bigger.
The HeartSupport team has a lot in store for 2026, goals to continue bringing mental health to music fans in order to heal the scene. Here are just a few of the ways we plan to do that.
Reach 20 local Support Walls
In 2026, local chapters of HeartSupport community members will have the opportunity to fundraise and bring Support Walls to their own venues, events, and community centers. This represents a natural continuation of the way that this real-time, fan-to-fan support structure has become increasingly accessible and far-reaching with time.
The Support Wall custom design is inflatable, packing down neatly into its own bin. Every Support Wall comes with two types of tile: red-lined, for fans to open up on, and gray-lined, for other fans to offer supportive responses. HeartSupport chapters can fundraise in 2026 to get their own inflatable wall and cards to start facilitating real-time connection exactly where they are.
We know that more Support Walls means HeartSupport can be in so many more places in the course of a year. With our existing 4 walls and an additional 20 added, we plan to activate at 280 shows and 18 festivals.
Grow to 125 Support Call Matches
Support Calls are the framework in which a peer mentor is trained to offer support to a fellow music fan who needs a little extra companionship during a tough time. A year ago, just 20 of these pairings were meeting for weekly calls. By the end of 2025, it was 65.
But for 2026, we’re aiming for 125 peer support pairings.
We have seen over and over again that people want help, and also that people want to help each other. Support Calls meets both of those deep desires. Having 125 active pairs meeting would mean 250 lives impacted by this program at the end of 2026.
Invite More Volunteers
One of the most common questions we hear at HeartSupport is “how can I get more involved?”
One of the easiest ways is always to donate, since every way in which we heal the scene takes practical resources. But in 2026, we intend to dream big about where we could go fueled by human hearts.
As we mentioned earlier, we plan to have a booth on the ground at 18 festivals in 2026. That requires people willing to stand at the booth, answering questions, applying temporary tattoos, explaining the support wall, and fielding hugs and even tears. We know our community is ready for that. So in the year ahead, we plan to have 50% of our festival deployments led by just one staff member, with the rest powered by you.
HeartSupport also wants to host a gathering for 2026 volunteers, celebrating their contributions and formalizing their training in the evidence-based support skills we depend on to ensure everyone gets the help they deserve.
Go Deeper With Music for Your Mental Health
2025 saw the conclusion of the wildly successful Therapist Reacts series on HeartSupport’s social media. Now, we’ll be bringing you even closer to the heart of the songs about mental health, recovery, and community.
Our behind-the-song features will create solidarity between you and the artists who make the music that resonates with you. You’ll hear from your favorite bands on our social media channels as they share about their journeys through life, creativity, and healing.
Some bands will have HeartSupport’s resources available to their fans the way Citizen Soldier did on their HeartSupport tour this year. We will continue to obliterate the barriers to show that, in the end, we’re all human, with stories to share.
Collect and share more stories
We get to hear incredible stories every single day about the ways things like Support Calls or the Support Wall have changed lives. This is no surprise to us, given that every single one of HeartSupport’s programs is evidence-based and routinely assessed to ensure it meets the highest standard for trauma-informed mental health support.
These stories deserve to be told.
You deserve to hear them.
In 2026, HeartSupport will be formalizing our media and testimonial collection processes so that we are accurately representing the most important thing about this work: you, the music listener. We will use ethical story collection and story telling methods to ensure we are dignifying every community member as we mark the true impact of our programs, one life at a time.
How can you heal the scene in 2026?
You can get in on the ground level by donating to send us to meet music fans where they need us the most throughout 2026. Even if you can only give $5, that’s gas in our tank to make it to the next festival, to start the next conversation that could change the next life.
Another great way to get involved is to be sure you’re getting our emails so that you can learn how to become a team leader in your area and bring a Support Wall to your area in 2026!
