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Staff from the NCSS Outpatient Children Youth and Family Division with Miss Teen Vermont contestant.
Left to right: Ian Kirkland, Ronald Stankevich, Dana Postemski, Aubrianna Mayette, Sandi Meyler, Rebecca Fish, Bridgett Cadieux and Sean Cater.
Bridget Higdon
ST. ALBANS — An Enosburg Falls student is turning past pain into new hope with the Orange Ribbon Project.
Last Friday, March 1, Aubrianna Mayette delivered 90 orange trigger bags to Northwestern Counseling and Support Services in recognition of Self-Injury Awareness Day.
Mayette struggled with self-harm as an adolescent and teenager and is now hoping to help others work through the challenge as part of her community service initiative for Miss Teen Vermont.
“I say the number one thing to do while you’re healing is love yourself first,” Mayette said. “That can be the hardest thing to do, to realize you are enough for yourself.”
When she was in elementary school, Mayette moved from New York to Franklin County. She’d been doing pageants for years but was made fun of for it when she got to her new school. The bullying she experienced was one factor in her life that led to years of mental health challenges and self-harm, she said.
Speaking to school counselors and to Dana Postemski, a clinician at NCSS, helped her to get clean of the habit and to build up her self-esteem.
“If I like who I am, if I like what I’m doing, then that’s all I need,” Mayette said.
She is now Miss Northwestern Vermont’s Teen and a junior at EFHS. She likes to sing and is part of Junior ROTC and Habitat for Aviation.
The contents of Aubrianna Mayette’s “trigger bags.” She’s already made and distributed 200 to NCSS and Franklin County high schools. Her goal is 500.
Bridget Higdon
A passion to turn her personal struggle into a story of hope for others led her to create “trigger bags.” So far, Mayette has distributed 200 bags filled with thoughtful items designed to alleviate stress and redirect someone when they are having emotions that can lead to self harm or destructive decisions.
The orange bags include a piece of candy, a fidget, a small stuffed animal, a snap bracelet, and a journal. There are also skin-safe pens and temporary tattoos for covering scars or burns.
“When kids look back on their scars – and I also felt this – you did it as a way to calm yourself down, or you felt like you deserved it, but then you just feel ashamed that you did it,” Mayette said.
Each bag also includes a card with contact information for the 988 National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and NCSS.
Postemski said the bags Mayette delivered to NCSS will be placed in the lobbies of the Ted Mable Family Center and the Main Office across the street. She and her fellow clinicians in the Outpatient Children Youth and Family Division will also hand them out to clients in need. Read more…
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