Faces of Resilience fundraiser honors Ryan and Christina Day

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University head football coach Ryan Day and his wife, Christina, were honored today during the annual Faces of Resilience fundraising event for Ohio State’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. They were celebrated for being true advocates and champions for the mental health cause.

 

The Days received the “STAR Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Fields of Trauma and Resilience.” 

 

The Days were recognized for their $1 million gift to Ohio State in August 2022 to fund research and services that promote mental health at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine. 

 

“With our contribution, we are trying to help flip the conversation from the devastation that can come from untreated illness to the strength that can be fostered by building resilience — the ability to adapt, learn and even thrive following adversity,” said the Days.

 

The Christina and Ryan Day Fund for Resilience supports the "Scarlet and Grit" program, which is an incubator of service delivery programs that support mental health needs of student athletes. 

The goal is to develop a model program that can be replicated for athletes at Ohio State, at other universities across the state, and eventually across the country. Lessons learned about stress and resilience in student athletes will also support resilience in the larger student population.

 

The event also highlighted the $20 million State of Ohio Adversity and Resilience (SOAR) initiative. Announced by The Ohio State University and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in mid-January, this first-of-its-kind, statewide, multigenerational series of studies will track risk and resilience factors for mental illness and addiction. 

 

Governor DeWine, himself a recipient of the STAR Award along with First Lady Fran DeWine in 2021, was also in attendance as a guest speaker for the Faces of Resilience event.

 

“I want to recognize Coach Ryan and Christina Day for shining a spotlight on the importance of mental health,” said Governor DeWine. “It is so important that young people know that getting help for mental health issues is a sign of strength and resilience. Today we also celebrate the SOAR study, where we already have 7,600 participants across all 88 counties in Ohio. This study is an incredible opportunity for us to better understand the root causes of mental illness and substance use disorder. Through this research and other unprecedented investments addressing the mental health of our citizens, Ohio has the ability to lead the nation as an innovator in prevention, treatment and recovery.”

 

K. Luan Phan, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Ohio State, who leads the SOAR Studies, call this new research initiative transformational. 

 

“Our department is committed to new approaches that will transform the way we provide mental health care by ‘swimming upstream’ and focusing on the power of the human spirit and its ability to recover and stay resilient, even in the face of great trauma and adversity,” Phan said. “We cannot do this work alone. It will take all of us working together to ‘bend the curve’ on the deaths of despair that are devastating our families and communities.” 

 

Proceeds from the event support the comprehensive Center for Psychiatry and Resilience at Ohio State that will address the growing suicide and addiction epidemics by developing resilience-based treatments that focus on early intervention. 

 

“We will collaborate with other centers around the state with a shared goal of building more resilient individuals, families and communities in Ohio and around the world,” Phan said.

 

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