Alumna Brook Powers, a finalist in the Pepsi Refresh Project, dreams of opening a mental wellness center for women called Blissful Mind Wellness Group. The Pepsi Refresh Project is awarding millions of dollars to individuals who propose ideas to “refresh” their community and Powers is working to win one of those grants worth $250,000. Supporters vote online every month for ideas in the categories of health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education. Powers’ Blissful Mind Wellness Group aims to “open and sustain an integrated women’s mental wellness center,” with the help of the Pepsi Refresh grant.

Technician: Can you tell me a little bit about the Pepsi Refresh Challenge?

Powers: Pepsi is giving away 1.3 million dollars every month to ideas that refresh your community. What they’re looking for are these grassroots projects and efforts to make a change, to make a positive impact. In order to win the money, they have four different financial tiers – I’m in the top tier which is 250,000 dollars – and I have to be in the top two in order to get the money.  

Technician: Tell me a little bit about your idea, Blissful Mind Wellness.

Powers: Blissful Mind Wellness Group is a concept that I’ve had for some time now. The concept is to integrate healthcare location, targeting mental health. We’ve seen some ideas out there as far as integrating healthcare under one roof, but typically it’s to target your physical health or medical health. What I’d like to see is counseling, therapy (group therapy, individual therapy, relationship therapy), medication management (typically done through a psychiatrist or somebody who can do physical health exams, such as a nurse practitioner or a physician’s assistant), and then also things like exercise, nutrition, consultation. There’s so much room for growth after that too, as far as diving into complementary alternatives medicine, any sort of massage, something like that. And also providing childcare – that’s something I haven’t mentioned yet. The program is just for women; we’re targeting women’s health.  

Technician: Is there a specific reason you’re targeting women’s health?

Powers: Research demonstrates that women are more likely to seek treatment for themselves and for their families; they’re more likely to receive psychotropic medication, receive mental health diagnoses. The evidence shows the women are the primary ones out there seeking treatment. I feel when you make a positive impact on women’s health, since they’re the ones out there, they’re the ones who are going to advocate for more change and everybody else’s health. Also, this model fits women’s health better because women develop socially by building relationships with other people. This program for my wellness group is a concept that allows women to build relationships with their healthcare providers, so they don’t have to go seek treatment, tell their story ten different times, and be seen for four minutes and then they’re out the door. It’s an opportunity for them to really build a relationship with a practice.  

Technician: So you’re combining the psychological part of health with the psychiatric side?

Powers: The research shows that the best method out there for treating mental illness is with the combination of psychotropic medication and with therapy. Psychotropic medication isn’t for everyone, but we do want to provide that aspect and have it there. Pretty much any psychiatrist will tell you, and agree with us, that medication can demonstrate improvement with your symptoms, but without mental health therapy you’re not really going to see the long-term improvement. A lot of practices will provide the basics of mental health, which will include therapy as well as psychiatry, but there are not a lot of places that will also address the physical health and the medical health. You’re one person. So if you’re experiencing something medically, it’s going to affect you psychologically. So we want to be able to address all of the concerns under one roof.  

Technician: What was the process like for entering the Pepsi Refresh Challenge?

Powers: The process was actually one of the more simple processes that I’ve gone through, other than having to stay up until midnight and at 12:01 hit send. I had to enter a minor budget, kind of just a rough budget of how the money would be spent. Pepsi is really reaching out to social networks as far as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, so we created a video. We have two videos that are out there on YouTube, a Facebook account, a Twitter account, etcetera, etcetera. It was mostly about them encouraging you to promote your idea through all of these different outlets. 

Technician: Have you won the top spot or are you still in the voting stages?

Powers: Still in the voting stages. Basically what happens is once you’ve been submitted into the Refresh Challenge, then you publicize your idea and get people to vote for you. If you’re in the top 100, then you fall over into the next month. I actually started the Refresh Challenge in May and this is my third month. It resets every month, so I’ve been in the top 100 each month, and each month I’ve come a little bit farther, but I’m ready to win! We’re in the 20s right now and we need to be in the top two by the end of the month.  

Technician: How’s the voting going? Do you really think you’ll be able to move forward with this and win it?

Powers: I sure as heck hope so. That’s the goal. If anything, it’s definitely a platform for my idea and I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback. I’ve tried to contact everyone I know and I’ve tried to get the word out there to encourage people to vote. A lot of people have latched on to the idea. The goal is definitely to win. 

Technician: If you don’t end up winning, are you still going to get some money out of it, or will you just not get the top prize or will other people see what you’re doing and pick up on it? What happens if you don’t necessarily win?

Powers: Well, I won’t get anything from Pepsi, but like I said, it’s a platform for my idea, which is wonderful. I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback, including people who have just poked around at the idea of wanting to fund it because they think it’s a phenomenal idea. But other people in local grants have said “please get in touch with me, we think it’s a wonderful idea.” I will eventually open this. I will do it. But it might just be bits and pieces, starting with a private practice for mental health, then building from there. If I don’t end up winning the Pepsi Refresh Challenge then I don’t win any money from them.