“Everybody knew a street pharmacist. Nobody knew a therapist,” is how Jeff Rocker described his upbringing in his South Florida community.

In this episode of Lift U Up: Inspiring Health Stories, Jeff very candidly describes how he “lost his way” as a young teen in high school, was kicked off the basketball team, and found himself slipping into deep depression. But as a young man from a Haitian family, he was told to “man up” and that he would “be okay”. His experience talking to a high school counselor taught him a lot about coping with his own emotions, but also opened his eyes to just how much his community was missing out on valuable emotional support. Today, Jeff is a licensed mental health counselor and nonprofit founder, helping the same kids he once was.