Minds Matter 2026:

"Your Life Is Worth LIving"

Mental Health resource fair & 

Homemade with Heart Craft sale


Craft Sale info


St. Andrew Presbyterian Church will host its annual Minds Matter: Mental Health Resource Fair from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday Nov. 7, 2026, alongside the Homemade with Heart Craft Sale.


Minds Matter brings local mental health organizations, advocates, speakers, and neighbors together in one place. The goal is simple: to help individuals and families learn about resources they may not know

are available, ask questions in a safe and relaxed setting, and make connections before, during, or after a mental health crisis.


This year’s keynote speaker is Foster Huggins, an international speaker and creator of the Your Life Is Worth Living movement. After losing his best friend to suicide, Foster turned that experience into a commitment to suicide awareness, open conversation, resilience, and hope. Foster will speak at 10 a.m.


At 1 p.m., a panel of local authors, Venise T. Berry, Renee Zukin, and Tammy Nyden, will explore mental health through their work as writers, educators, advocates, and caregivers.


Throughout the day, local nonprofits and agencies will be available to talk about the services they provide. Guests can also shop the Homemade with Heart Craft Sale, enjoy food available for purchase, and spend as much or as little time as they like exploring the fair. Craft-sale table fees and proceeds from the event help Minds Matter continue supporting local nonprofit organizations providing mental health services in our community.


Minds Matter is free and open to the public, with free parking available at St. Andrew.

If you have questions about the Resource Fair or the Craft Sale, contact us using the button below.

With thanks,


Amy Schmidt-Rundell, Mission and Building Use Coordinator
Nichole Hoffman, Family Ministry Outreach Coordinator


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Foster Huggins  | 10 a.m

Your Life Is Worth Living


After losing his best friend to suicide, Foster Huggins turned grief into a reason to speak. Through his Underwater FlyZone podcast, public speaking, and Your Life Is Worth Living movement, Foster encourages people to talk more openly about mental health, suicide awareness, resilience, and the things we may be carrying beneath the surface.


That makes him a particularly fitting keynote speaker for Minds Matter 2026. Foster brings a deeply personal story, but also a clear message of hope, connection, and the importance of paying attention to one another.


Hear Foster at 10 a.m. Saturday Nov. 7 at St. Andrew.

Venise Berry | 1 p.m. Panel

The Black Superwoman & Mental Health


Venise T. Berry has spent much of her career examining the stories we tell about race, culture, media, and identity. A professor of Journalism and African American Studies at the University of Iowa, she is also co-editor of The Black Superwoman & Mental Health: Power & Pain, which explores the pressures, expectations, and emotional costs behind a familiar cultural image.


Venise brings both scholarship and storytelling to the conversation, along with decades of work as a researcher, teacher, and bestselling novelist.


She joins our Minds Matter authors panel at 1 p.m. Saturday Nov. 7.

Tammy Nyden | 1 p.m. Panel

Mothers on the Frontline


Tammy Nyden brings the perspective of a scholar, advocate, and mother to conversations about children’s mental health. An associate professor of philosophy at Grinnell College, she is also co-founder and co-director of Mothers on the Frontline, which advocates for children’s mental health justice, caregiver justice, and caregiver healing.


Her current work examines how stigma, blame, and the expectations placed on caregivers can deepen the challenges families already face when navigating mental illness. Tammy’s work asks us to look not only at individual experiences, but also at the systems surrounding them.


She joins our Minds Matter authors panel at 1 p.m. Saturday Nov. 7.

ReneE Zukin | 1 p.m. Panel

Every Day,  I'm Brave


Renee Zukin writes from lived experience. Her memoir, Every Day, I’m Brave: Cultivating Resilience to Gain Freedom from Fear, traces her journey with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, and the work of learning to live with greater freedom, compassion, and courage.

An author, educator, and coach, Renee has spent more than 20 years working at the intersection of writing, psychology, creativity, and personal growth. Her work centers on helping people find language for difficult experiences and use their own voices with greater honesty.


Renee joins our Minds Matter authors panel at 1 p.m. Saturday Nov. 7.

Homemade with Heart: Craft sale

Do you or someone you know have a talent for crafting?


We would love for you to join us at our Homemade with Heart Holiday Craft Sale! $30 for a 10x10 space to sell your homemade items. 


Do you make pottery, holiday creations, kitchen items, metal work or maybe something completely new? We hope you'll join us! Be sure to share this with your friends!


The $30 fee will go towards helping “Minds Matter” provide assistance to local nonprofits requesting financial help for their mental health services.



Vendor Application


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