Project HEAL Recent News & Media Highlights
READ: “Tess Holliday Discusses the Stigma Behind an Atypical Anorexia Diagnosis” | Project HEAL was featured as a resource for eating disorder healing.
Published January 18th, 2023.
“Project HEAL offers help with clinical assessments, treatment placement, navigating insurance, and cash assistance,” Holliday writes.
READ: “Weight loss surgery extends lives, study finds” | Susan Vibbert, Project HEAL Board Member, was featured in a divisive CNN article in which she advocated for weight neutral approaches to healthcare. (TW: intentional weight loss, pathologization of o**sity, disordered eating).
Published January 28th, 2023.
“How are we defining health in these scenarios? And is there another intervention — a weight neutral intervention?” Vibbert asked.
READ: “Camila Mendes Reveals She Suffered From a ‘Binge and Purge’ Eating Disorder During Riverdale’s 1st Season: ‘I Was So Insecure’” | Project HEAL friend Camila Mendes talks about her struggles with an eating disorder.
Published January 27th, 2023.
“Growing up, I watched my big sister suffer from one for many years, and I’ve experienced periods in my life when I’ve suffered symptoms as well,” she said, noting that she was joining Project Heal — which provides grant funding for people with eating disorders who can’t afford treatment — to “help break the stigma associated with eating disorders.”
READ: “Opening Up: Camila Mendes’ Most Honest Quotes About Her Eating Disorder and Body Image Struggles” | Project HEAL friend Camila Mendes talks about her struggles with an eating disorder.
Published January 27th, 2023.
“However, getting involved with Project Heal helped.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve been in denial about my issues,’” she recalled. “I started to see a therapist and started getting serious about recovery when I couldn’t get through a [costume] fitting.”
READ: “Opening Up: Camila Mendes’ Most Honest Quotes About Her Eating Disorder and Body Image Struggles” | Project HEAL friend Camila Mendes talks about her struggles with an eating disorder.
Published January 26th, 2023.
“Mendes has previously been open about her eating disorder. In 2017, she announced that she partnered with the nonprofit, Project HEAL, which raises money for eating disorder treatment.”
Nangia writes, “Any time a single number defines a whole human being, there is a huge risk that the human will be overlooked… [BMI]’s not logical, ethical, or precise, but one thing’s for certain—it is bullsh*t.”
READ: “BMI is BS” | Serena Nangia, Project HEAL Marketing & Communications Manager, penned an article for Poosh on the inaccuracy and detriment of using BMI as a main indicator of health.
Published December 20th, 2022.
At the Project HEAL gala, Project HEAL's Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Eyre announced a staggering 3216% increase in services delivered since the pandemic began, which includes helping 1,394 people get into eating disorder treatment for free over the past three years, the cash value of which is $6,444,415.
READ: “Thinspiration, Pro-ana, Pro-mia: Risks of Eating Disorders” | Project HEAL named as a resource for healing.
Published December 19th, 2022.
"We are so grateful that Alsana has joined a growing list of eating disorder treatment centers who are supporting our efforts to ensure everyone has access to eating disorder healing, not just the privileged few," said Rebecca Eyre, CEO of Project HEAL.
PRESS RELEASE: Project HEAL Reveals 3216% Increase in Community Support at Annual Gala and Announces 2023 Eating Disorders Awareness Week
Published December 6th, 2022.
READ: “Camila Mendes Opens Up About Her Struggles With Body Image” | Project HEAL friend Camila Mendes talks about her struggles with an eating disorder.
Published January 30th, 2023.
“In 2017, she partnered with nonprofit, Project HEAL, which seeks to raise money for eating disorder treatment,” says Women’s Health.
Knight said, “Food is just that: food. We eat food for all sorts of reasons; nourishment, pleasure, energy, ritual, fun," to Scary Mommy reporter.
READ: “Here's What It Means To Be An "Almond Mom" & Why You Really Want To Avoid It” | Project HEAL Chief Program Officer, Ashlee Knight, was interviewed for this timely topic.
Published January 30th, 2023.
PRESS RELEASE: Alsana St. Louis and Birmingham Offer Annual Grant for Residential Treatment
Published December 1st, 2022.
WATCH or READ: “Many barriers to eating disorder care exist in Montana” | Project HEAL Senior Program Director, Ashlee Knight, was featured talking about barriers to accessing eating disorder care, especially in rural communities.
Published November 16th, 2022.
“You do not have to suffer alone, and there is help on the other side of this," Knight concluded.
“Nangia stressed how crucial it is that people with experience of disordered eating are able to "express what they're feeling without judgment." However, she added, "We also believe it's important that thin people in conversations about fatphobia and disordered eating hold an awareness of the impact they have when depicting common struggles over fears of gaining weight."“
READ: “Taylor Swift's video for 'Anti-Hero' has been edited to delete a scene featuring a scale with the word 'fat' on it after activists argued it was fatphobic” | Serena Nangia, Project HEAL Marketing & Communications Manager, spoke about fatphobia and eating disorders in a 2022 Taylor Swift music video.
Published October 27th, 2022.
“Nangia said, ‘If we immediately judge someone for admitting that becoming fat is a fear of theirs (a common symptom of some eating disorders), then we risk alienating people who need help.’”
READ: “‘I didn’t feel insulted, I felt seen.’ Is Taylor Swift’s new video fatphobic?” | Serena Nangia, Project HEAL Marketing & Communications Manager, spoke about fatphobia and eating disorders in a 2022 Taylor Swift music video.
Published October 26th, 2022.
“It's important to remember that anyone can be fatphobic, including people in recovery from eating disorders, says Serena Nangia.”
Nangia added: "We hope the eating disorder community invites those struggling in their healing process to acknowledge their own fatphobia and fears while also encouraging people with significant influence, like Taylor Swift, to carefully navigate their unique positioning as related to the levels of marginalization they face."
“‘An eating disorder-informed workplace would be careful not to comment on people’s bodies, and not to encourage weight loss through competition or diet talk,’ says Rebecca Eyre, an eating disorder therapist and CEO of Project HEAL.”
“Knight works with patients from a harm reduction approach, helping them decide how they want to adjust their relationship with food and alcohol.”
“‘Because there’s such a focus on BMI numbers, we are missing people who could have gotten help earlier, even if they are at a medium BMI,’ Nangia said. ‘If they are not underweight, they are not taken seriously, and their behaviors are overlooked.’”
“For eating disorders, insurers often use BMI to make coverage decisions and can limit treatment to only those who rank as underweight, missing others who need help, said Serena Nangia”
READ: “Why Taylor Swift's 'Anti-Hero' Music Video Is Getting Backlash” | Serena Nangia, Project HEAL Marketing & Communications Manager, spoke about fatphobia and eating disorders in a 2022 Taylor Swift music video.
Published October 26th, 2022.
READ: “Expert On Weight Stigma Speaks Out About Problematic Messaging In Taylor Swift's Anti-Hero Music Video” | Serena Nangia, Project HEAL Marketing & Communications Manager, spoke about fatphobia and eating disorders in a 2022 Taylor Swift music video.
Published October 26th, 2022.
READ: “Managing Eating Disorders in the Workplace” | Rebecca Eyre Project HEAL CEO, was featured talking about the potential for eating disorder-informed workplaces.
Published October 25th, 2022.
WATCH: “Women's Mental Well-Being Summit - Session 1” | Serena Nangia, Project HEAL Marketing & Communications Manager, spoke about Project HEAL and the need for equitable access to mental health care.
Published October 25th, 2022.
READ: “Drunkorexia: When Drinking Meets Diet Culture” | Ashlee Knight, Project HEAL Senior Program Director, spoke to Verywell Health about the connection between eating disorders and alcohol use.
Published October 24th, 2022.
READ: “BMI: The Mismeasure of Weight and the Mistreatment of Obesity” | Serena Nangia, Project HEAL Marketing & Communications Manager, spoke about the risks and detriment of using BMI as a main indicator of health.
Published October 12th, 2022.
READ: “Why BMI can be a faulty measure of overall health” | Serena Nangia, Project HEAL Marketing & Communications Manager, spoke about the risks and detriment of using BMI as a main indicator of health.
Published October 12th, 2022.
READ: “How an overreliance on BMI can stand between patients and treatment” | Serena Nangia, Project HEAL Marketing & Communications Manager, spoke about the risks and detriment of using BMI as a main indicator of health.
Published October 8th, 2022.
More coming soon…