Solidarity in shared experiences: Kelly and Aria’s story

Kelly and Aria (pseudonyms) were both in attendance at Furnace Fest 2025 to see some of their favorite bands. They couldn’t have known that they were also going to have the rare chance to connect with someone who had walked some of the same painful roads they had each walked.

“Kelly came by the Support Wall with her friend and was hesitant at first,” HeartSupport’s Bryce Maopolski remembers. “Her friend helped her build the confidence to open up on the wall. Brooke eventually asked for a tile. She opened up about her grandfather sexually assaulting her and how he recently passed. She said she had been coping with it alright, but since his death, it’s been all she can think about again. She hadn’t told anyone in her family, and now with him gone, she feels like she has no way to tell them.”

Bryce was able to offer her a listening ear, a hug, and a reminder: “I let her know that her worth is not defined by her grandfather’s horrible actions, and that she is not dirty or less-than because of what he did. His actions are a reflection of his own twisted self, and in no way do they change who she is as a beautiful human being.”

Bryce wasn’t the only one who responded. The Support Wall filled up with responses to Kelly, including a final one from Aria.

“She handed me her card and asked if I could get it to Brooke since she had been through similar trauma,” Bryce says.

Later that day, Kelly came back to the Wall, seeing it full of words of support for her in what she’s been through. Bryce passed along Aria’s contact card, as he’d promised.

Courageously, Kelly reached out. Aria was able to share that she’d been through something very similar, and that she understood what Kelly was going through. The two met up face-to-face on festival grounds, where they went on to talk for hours.

Because she’d been through something similar, Aria knew about local counseling resources, and was able to pass those along to Kelly as well as sharing her own story and care. HeartSupport also got her access to the Support Calls program for ongoing, free, peer-led mental health support.

Kelly had never before opened up about her trauma to anyone aside from the friend who she was attending Furnace Fest with. HeartSupport gave her the life-changing opportunity to be honest for the first time.

Both Kelly and Aria are powerful proof of how even when support begins with the Wall, it often expands so far beyond it. Healing the scene is a series of ripple effects of solidarity in shared pain and shared hope.

HeartSupport plans to be on the ground at a minimum of 18 festivals this year, not to mention countless more activations led by local chapters. Will you donate today to make more stories like Kelly and Aria’s possible?

Do you have a story like this from interacting with the HeartSupport community at a festival or concert? Share it on Instagram and be sure to tag @heartsupport!