Let's stop dancing around mental health conversations. ®
Walt's Waltz ® is a compass and a megaphone for mental health education, equity, and stigma-free communities — born from one family's loss and carried forward by everyone who joins the step.
Based on post-workshop participant surveys
“Mom, we will start a movement. If we save one life, it will be worth it.” — Will Crooks, co-founder, two days after his brother Walt's death
Walt's Waltz was founded in Greenville, South Carolina, in the days after we lost our son and brother, Walt, to treatment-resistant anxiety and PTSD on August 22, 2019. Walt used to gently remind his mom, “Mom, you have to live,” whenever he saw she needed a break. What began as a promise between a mother and son has grown into a regional movement to end the stigma around mental health — in workplaces, schools, faith communities, and homes.
We believe every person deserves clarity about the severity of what they're carrying, and a safe space to talk about it without shame. That belief is the whole reason we exist.
Artist Nick Burns, who also painted Walt's 8x8 portrait, Gentle Giant, has now completed a new mural at Haywood Mall's lower entrance. It shows Paris Mountain, where Walt loved to hike, mountain bike, and swim, and features our signature mascot butterfly. We'll be unveiling it as part of our Suicide Awareness Month programming.
Read Walt's story →Three steps, danced in order, on repeat.
Every program we run moves through the same three-beat rhythm. It's not a metaphor for its own sake — it's literally how we build a stigma-free community, one organization at a time.
Education
Professionally led training and screenings that help people understand the severity of their own anxiety or depression — the first step toward taking it seriously.
Equity
Advocacy for equitable access to mental health care and research funding, so support isn't determined by zip code, income, or background.
Stigma-Free
Partner organizations pledge to become Walt's Waltz Stigma-Free Zones — workplaces, schools, and campuses where mental health can be discussed openly.
Signs of who we are, and why it matters.
Our Butterfly Mascot: Perfectly Imperfect
Our mascot began as a hand-sketched butterfly by Walt's close friend John Laystrom, drawn as an act of love. Its wings form two W's, for Walt's Waltz, and for Walt and Will as a reminder of their brotherhood, and three, for the three beats of the Waltz. A semicolon marks the design, a reminder that someone's story goes on. The colors were painted by finger when a stylus broke, and the imperfect lines stayed, because mental health rarely follows a straight line either. That's why we call her Perfectly Imperfect.
A Story of Change
One woman worked alongside us for over a year and grew deeply passionate about and supportive of our work. She later told Susan that our work was the reason she went back to school and changed professions. She is now a practicing Doctor of Occupational Therapy, helping others as a reflection of the work that inspired her.
Even a Pin Can Remind You
“Thank you for the work you do… your work goes farther than you know, even if it is a pin that simply reminds when I need a reminder.” A young man worked alongside us for three years through another organization. A few months ago, Susan ran into him again, and he called out, “Walt's Waltz!” across the room. Only then did she learn he had quietly struggled with his own mental health, and remembered what we'd told him: “I will never forget you.” When she tried to hand him a new pin, he told her he still had his.
Ways we show up in the community.
Our programs and resource materials are offered in both English and Spanish.
Painting Mental Health Workshops
Hands-on sessions using art as self-expression, covering stigma, the mental health continuum, and practical self-care — with variations like Painting Wellbeing, Painting Grief, and Music, Art & Poetry, adapted for students, parents, seniors, workplaces, and community groups.
Presentations & Trainings
We speak directly at schools, workplaces, and community organizations, and arrange free professional trainings like Mental Health First Aid Certification, on a variety of mental health topics.
Stigma-Free Environments
We partner directly with workplaces, schools, healthcare systems, nonprofits, and municipalities, currently 25 organizations strong, to build lasting, pledged commitments to open mental health conversations.
Educational Tabling & Community Events
You'll find us with a table at community events and health fairs, offering free mental health screenings, teaching, and hands-on painting activities on the spot.
Stigma-Free Families Coming Soon
A new pilot in development, planned to serve 75 families with tools and support to talk openly about mental health at home.
Art Exhibitions
Six community art exhibits so far, giving Walt's story and the broader conversation public, visible space.
Volunteer Days
Open to everyone, a way to build community, support one another, and push back against the loneliness epidemic, through hands-on work like making pins, stuffing self-care bags, and painting cards for people going through a hard season.
Support Group Coming Soon
Walt's Waltz is launching its first-ever support group, a pilot for those with OCD. As it grows, we hope to add support groups for other needs as well.
Migrant Worker Outreach
On a three-hour outreach drive, we presented our mental health programs in small groups over two hours, serving 39 migrant workers with mental health resources and our signature self-care kits. Their kindness left our hearts full.
The Mental Health Moonshot
Mental health is complicated, and no single field has all the answers. Each person's journey is unique, shaped by genetics, epigenetics, high sensitivity, and more. We believe getting this right means bringing all the sciences together, not working in silos, and we're committed to better education on what actually drives someone's mental health, not just how to respond once things are hard. It's a long-term direction for our work, not a finished program.
Everyone has a step to add.
Give
Every dollar funds free workshops, screenings, and certification courses across the Upstate. Your gift covers real programs, not overhead.
Donate nowVolunteer
Help staff an event, join our internship program, or lend a skill. We run on people who show up.
See open rolesPartner
Bring Walt's Waltz to your workplace, school, or campus and pledge to become a Stigma-Free Environment.
Start a partnership