Zach Gale knows how important the power of connection is.
“I struggled with my own issues, struggles, anxiety,” said Gale, 27.
That’s why the special education teacher created a community during the coronavirus pandemic called “Me2We.”
“It's a message. It's a mindset. It's a lifestyle. But what I've grown to see throughout the few years we've been doing this, that it's a community of driven individuals who want to make a positive impact on this world," Gale said.
Post-COVID, that community has expanded to include in-person meetings every two weeks, called “WeTalk.”
“We create a safe space for people. But more than that, we call up a brave space,” Gale said.
NBC Chicago promotions producer Ryan Glatzhofer attends the “WeTalk” meetings.
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“For folks that may need help, but don't know where to go, it's not therapy, but it's therapeutic for you,” Glatzhofer said.
To be clear, the meetings are not led by mental health professionals. Gale leads them himself, putting his teaching skills to use with structured activities and goals.
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“We have two activities, usually that kind of help us self-reflect. And the big thing I always say is like, my goal here is for you to self-reflect. If you want to share, awesome. If you don't, we'll continue to build towards that,” Gale said.
If you can’t make it to the support group meetings, which are held every other Sunday morning in an office space at 1014 Bonaventure Dr. in Elk Grove Village, Gale also created an Instagram profile for men to follow along for daily tips and motivation.
The feed includes “Monday Mindset” posts, a “Workout of the Week” and “Saturday Spark” videos to inspire positivity.
“The consistency with this group and with what Me2We stands for is outstanding,” Glatzhofer said.
The age range of participants varies from age 16 to 30. Gale also created merchandise to help promote “Me2We” and share the mission with more men who may be silently struggling.
“No matter who you are, you're either going through something, you've gone through something or you will go through something, but no one's going to know until we connect on it,” Gale said.
