Jewel Wants People to Know They’re ‘Never Alone’ as She Kicks off Annual Mental Health Challenge (Exclusive)
Jewel in Santa Monica in April 2026Credit: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Jewel’s fifth annual #NotAloneChallenge offers free mental health tools and resources around World Mental Health Day
The initiative has raised more than $3 million for the Inspiring Children Foundation over five years
Jewel will hold the Not Alone Awards and Summit in Las Vegas this November
Jewel wants people to know they’re never alone.
In light of World Mental Health Day on Saturday, Oct. 10, the “You Were Meant for Me” singer launched her fifth-annual #NotAloneChallenge to remind people they’re not alone and offer up accessible mental health tools and resources.
This year, participants are encouraged to share something or someone that has supported their mental health, whether that’s a friend, pet, book, activity or comforting object, using #NotAloneChallenge.
“I think if we can really push hard on mental health, it’ll solve a lot of other problems,” Jewel, 52, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I think it underlies a lot of issues that we face. How can we have better mental health hygiene? How can we build more compassion for ourselves and others?”
Over the past five years, the mental health movement has raised over $3 million for Jewel’s Inspiring Children Foundation and it was designed to help mental health support feel practical.
Jewel’s Not Alone ChallengeCredit: Courtesy Jewel
“I hope people know they have an ally. I hope they know to reach out to their community or to one of our resources. I really hope people know how many types of therapies there are out there,” Jewel (born Jewel Kilcher)says. “So if one isn’t working for you, please don’t take that personal and think that you’re broken. It means you may not have found the right modality. Talk therapy doesn’t work for everybody.”
In the past, Jewel has been open about experiencing homelessness and her journey with anxiety. Since then, she’s picked up the tools that she hopes can help someone one day too.
“When I moved out at 15, I wanted to see if happiness was a learnable skill. It seemed like misery was an equal opportunist. It didn’t care if you were black or white or rich or poor, but to learn to be happy meant an education and how to have different behaviors, how to retrain your thoughts, and that costs money,” she says.
“And so for me, with the foundation, our whole journey has been, ‘How do we make tools that are accessible and free that make a difference for people? And it’s not like you can just get happy as every sad person knows, but you can learn to create environments for happiness,” she adds.
For Jewel, the most rewarding part has been seeing how these tools have changed the lives of children.
“I developed tools for myself. When I was young, when I was homeless, they did work for me. It’s very rewarding to see kids take that on and see it work for them. They take responsibility for their happiness,” she says.
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Jewel in Los Angeles in AprilCredit: Amy Sussman/Getty
Jewel continues, “They work hard at it. It’s hard to heal. It’s hard to grow. It’s hard to change. And so watching each of our kids sort of take on that responsibility of, are they responsible for their happiness? What are they willing to do? How hard will they work for that? And you just see the results. It’s mind-blowing.”
Up next, Jewel will throw the second-annual Not Alone Awards in Las Vegas on Nov. 2. The awards — which celebrate the way we approach mental and emotional well-being — will be hosted by Loni Love. Fans can attend in person or stream the ceremony live via iHeart.
Following the awards, the second-annual Not Alone Summit will take place from Nov. 3-4 in Las Vegas, and Jewel will co-chair the summit alongside Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and ICF alum Cherrial Odell, with Jason Kennedy joining as host.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.
Source: Entertainment