After the initial healing began several weeks following my August 2024 motor vehicle accident, I was left with a troubling feeling that the car crash was like many things I’d overcome in my life. It was bad, but it wasn’t a tragedy. My injuries were challenging and painful, but I didn’t lose any body parts. My doctors did not prepare me for a lifetime of pain. For weeks my damaged brain was flooded with memories from past struggles where I faced situations that were greater than challenging and less than life altering. I’ve often said my life has been led with grains of sand in my shoes.
Finding Happiness through Life Changes
After working through over a decade of significant and wide-spreading family struggles, my life had felt like it was in a pretty good place. My husband and I were happily empty nesters living on our dream property outside of Austin, Texas. My mornings were surrounded by goats, hill country views, and generally a non-rushed lifestyle. It was a sustained feeling I’m not sure I’d ever experienced… content. Life was enough. The sand was slipping out of my shoes. During this calm period, I had committed myself to forming a mental health nonprofit. Based on what our family combatted, it became important to me to build support resource for others. I worked it a little here and a little there and it gave me even greater happiness.
The Message
Then the crash happened. In the hour or so it took to get to the hospital, my brain was flooded with memories, hopes, and prayers for my life to not be over. Those precious moments of isolation reminding me “I don’t know what I don’t know.” Over the next several hours in the trauma ER, I heard positive messages. Bones not broken, stitches that could be given, and reassurance that surgery could fix many of my ailments. When they allowed my husband into the room, I was flooded by tears. Not for my pain but for his pain. The pain he must have felt looking at whatever I resembled.
He walked to my side and I found the clarity to tell him, “Do you realize today is the third time in my life I truly could have died?” After the weight of that sunk in, I gently lifted my hand to touch his. As I did this, I said, “God must not be ready for me yet – I must have a reason for still being here.” Then, in unison, we said “It’s the website.”
Finding My Purpose
Over the following months, short moments of planning turned into longer periods, which eventually brought the ability to work on my computer. During those moments, I was working on a mission to support other people. To bring them peace and access during times of hardship, and delivering hope where isolation and frustration existed. Focusing on supporting others disconnected me from the pain I felt. It made the dark days as we entered winter feel brighter and warmer. I developed a forgiveness towards myself for causing this incident, which thankfully left the other driver with minor cuts and bruises. The piled up sand in my shoes started leaving again.
Throughout this, I found my purpose. Without the accident, my life would have largely moved forward as it was, with short times of investment in my nonprofit. Instead, I powered through with courage and strength I didn’t know I had. Relationships were forged, my support network took shape, and my body and brain slowly began to heal. Most importantly, I found happiness again by serving others.
It Began as a Personal Desire
The story behind Get Support Together is rooted in a simple belief: no one should have to face life’s hardest moments without knowing where to turn for help. What began as a personal desire to support others has grown into a foundation dedicated to connecting people with mental health resources, support services, and community programs. Get Support Together is working to make it easier for individuals and families to find the help they need—when they need it. Because sometimes, finding the right resource can be the first step toward hope, healing, and knowing you are not alone.
For more information on the Get Support Together Foundation please visit: www.getsupporttogether.org
Submitted by: Brea Black, Founder
This article is also featured in our 2026 Fall Issue of Sharing our Recovery.
