Extraordinary Lives Foundation

ELF's mission is to improve children’s mental health and wellness and support families by providing awareness events, educational tools, and resources.

We encourage families to recognize symptoms, overcome the stigma and reach out for help. Through prevention and early intervention, we believe many of the big problems facing today’s youth can be transformed within a generation.

The Extraordinary Lives Foundation (ELF) was founded in 2015 by Mara James to change the way society views mental health and to dispel the stigma associated with mental health challenges and to improve children's mental health. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five Americans lives with a mental illness (46.6 million in 2017). This is evidenced by the demand for pediatric inpatient beds across California and the nation. Certain hospitals responded to the need by creating an inpatient Mental Health Center for children as young as age three. Children are taught to brush their teeth every day, yet they are not taught to care for their mental health. It is much easier to build strong, resilient children than to repair broken adults.  This inspired the creation of our mascot, Piggie Bear.

PIGGIE BEAR

To improve children's Mental Health & Wellness, Mara created the character Piggie Bear, the main character in "The Power of Piggie Bear" which is a therapeutic book that teaches children about their emotions and how to cope with them. Piggie Bear is a fun and loving character that helps to increase children's social emotional learning. For any child, navigating the ups and downs of daily life can be stressful and intimidating, and even more challenging for a child in foster care or experiencing homelessness.

WHAT PIGGIE BEAR TEACHES

Piggie Bear promotes self-acceptance and teaches that it is OK to be different.
Piggie Bear boosts self-confidence and self-esteem.
Piggie Bear shares emotions and teaches children to recognize them.
Piggie Bear teaches coping skills, deep belly breathing, and self-calming techniques.
Piggie Bear demonstrates self-love.

The following is a testimonial from a local licensed mental health therapist:

"It can often be a challenge for children to find the right words to express what is going on inside. However, hearing Piggie Bear express these feelings makes it relatable. "The Power of Piggie Bear" is a wonderful, heartfelt approach to giving children tools for dealing with their feelings and developing self-acceptance." Debbie Hutchinson, Psy.D., MFT.

ELF donates the Children’s Emotional Wellness Week program (CHEWW), empowered by Piggie Bear, and Piggie Bear Happy Packs, to vulnerable children throughout Orange County, and beyond.

2024 Impact Numbers:

8,021 Children reached at ELF events.
5,809 Children impacted by the Children’s Emotional Wellness Week Program (CHEWW) empowered by Piggie Bear.
462 Number of Piggie BEAR Toolkits donated.
223 Classrooms supported through Piggie Bear’s therapeutic resources.

The following are our top four most pressing needs:

1. Unrestricted or core funding to support and expand operations (administration, social media and communications, website maintenance, marketing).

2. Funding to donate and expand the Children’s Emotional Wellness Week program (CHEWW) program to classrooms of schools serving economically disadvantaged families.

3. Funding to donate and expand Piggie Bear Happy Packs donations to vulnerable children.

4. Funding to provide educational workshops to improve social emotional wellness for parents with children facing challenges.

Orange County and beyond

CEO STATEMENT

Many families are impacted by mental health related issues, yet most people are uncomfortable admitting to this for fear of stigma. Stigma is a negative label or a mark of disgrace. Many families impacted by mental health related issues often suffer in silence, not knowing where to turn or how to seek help. I created the Extraordinary Lives Foundations (ELF) to bring mental health out of the shadows and into the light and raise awareness so that mental health is openly discussed and seen simply as one aspect of general wellness.

My world as I had known it fell part in 2014 when out of the blue, at age 48, I experienced a manic episode and was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. My husband, Kenny, and I had already been dealing with mental health challenges in our family as we have a son who has Asperger's and ADHD. Thanks to my psychiatrist, and the many gifted healers who have helped me, I have been guided back to a state of mental well-being. On this journey, I became acutely aware of the stigma that accompanies mental health challenges and realized how many problems experienced later in life stem from early childhood.

This was the inspiration to start ELF and to promote children's mental health and emotional wellness. ELF’s mascot Piggie Bear was created to normalize the conversation around emotions and empower children. ELF places emphasis on prevention and early intervention to support children in becoming more resilient, improving their mental health and discouraging self-destructive behavior.

I know in my heart that by focusing on our young ones, helping them cope with their emotions, and teaching them self-love, self-acceptance and self calming skills, they can live happier and healthier lives.

Mara James, Founder & CEO

Our Board of Directors are passionate about empowering children and their families to navigate mental health challenges and build resilience as Extraordinary Lives Foundation (ELF) serves a diverse population.
One of the built-in challenges of that is communicating across cultural and socio-economic areas, and ELF has found a mascot to do that, in Piggie Bear. With Piggie Bear sharing a universal message of inclusivity and kindness, he helps ELF to fulfill its mission to improve children’s mental health and emotional wellness through providing educational tools, resources and outreach events.
As ELF continues to grow and expand its programs, our goal is to build our local relationships with child-focused organizations and to also foster relationships with organizations around the nation to increase awareness around the issues and the options available for children’s emotional wellness.
Duan Tran
ELF Board Chair