OUR STORY
ESTABLISHED IN 2017
we center joy
GETSOMEJOY is a creative wellness agency that supports communities and organizations with joy-flavored trainings and experiences that foster connection and creativity, invite collaboration and vulnerability, and prioritize community wellness.
We aim to Improve Community Health, Foster Connection, and Center Joy by making mental health resources more accessible — helping people take better care of themselves, show up for each other, and build stronger communities from the inside out. Healthier people create healthier communities, and healthier communities create a world where more of us get to thrive — not just survive.
(and we bring fried chicken stickers)
From isolated in a shelter to spreading joy across the world
Alex Hardy first shared his vision for GetSomeJoy during #GetSomeJoy: A Blackstravaganza for Mental Health Awareness, the wellness-flavored edition of his literary showcase/conversation series, on May 31, 2017 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
selfcarecheckin.coM
Team GetSomeJoy launched SelfCareCheckin.com in the spring of 2018 to share self-care tools and resources to be great(er) at home, work, and school.
We received a grant from Everytown for Gun Safety to lead a campaign of virtual check-ins, pop-up resource exchanges, and community spaces with our Self-Care Check-In Wallet cards. We promoted access to FREE 24/7 support from a trained crisis counselor via a collaboration with Crisis Text Line,
How would you rate your self-care right now on a scale of 1-10?
What are you doing well for you right now?
What could you be doing better or differently?
Bonus: Do it with friends/a partner and ask: How can I/we help you be great(er)?
We Asked Folks:
¡Yay, feelings!
In 2015, GetSomeJoy launched the Literary Therapy Writing Program,
In 2019, months before the COVID-19 pandemic, GetSomeJoy offered its first six-week virtual Literary Therapy Writing Workshops to two cohorts of curious souls. Together, they explored writing as a reflective and restorative tool, creating space for connection, healing, and self-discovery.
In the summer of 2020, GetSomeJoy responded to the pandemic’s emotionally isolating impact with a four-part summer series that explored Joy, Grief, Pleasure, and Growth. That fall, we offered a four-part fall Literary Therapy Series, covering Caregiving, Shame, Self-Love, and Recovery.
We debuted our Community Literary Therapy Wall in the Wellness Village at the 2022 Black Joy Parade in Oakland, CA. The bright yellow six-foot installation offers public space to read, reflect, write, and connect with. Stocked with Literary Therapy postcards, pens, and fried chicken stickers, the Wall spent the Spring inviting reflection and connection in Oakland Public Library branches.
In 2023, GetSomeJoy collaborated with licensed clinician Nia Ridgle of MindBodyYou to offer intimate four-week Literary Therapy Writing Circles to help people write their way to clarity in a closed group.
As of January 2025, through Literary Therapy’s various engagement platforms, GetSomeJoy has connected with over 3000 curious souls from over 25 countries and offered space to read, reflect, write, and connect via over 3,000 Literary Therapy Postcards.
learn about our
joY-infused work
We spread joy wherever people are peopling.