Interactive Mental Map

Call for Submissions:
Interactive Mental Map – A Community Mental Health Project

Presented by Cleveland Health and Wellness Center and Literary Cleveland

We invite you to share your voice.

The Interactive Mental Map is a community-based creative project amplifying stories of resilience, healing, and hope. We are seeking original writing, music, and visual art from individuals across our community in response to meaningful mental health prompts such as:

  • What has given you hope in your mental health journey?

  • What does healing look like to you?

  • Who or what has helped you keep going?

  • Describe a place where you learned something about yourself, and connect that place to the experience of learning.

  • Describe a place where you experienced connection or support.

Selected works will be featured on an interactive digital map, where viewers can explore submissions connected to places and people throughout our community. This project is designed to uplift lived experiences, reduce stigma, and create space for honest, courageous expression.

Creators retain full ownership and copyright of their submitted work. By submitting to the Interactive Mental Map project, creators grant permission for their work to be displayed publicly as part of the interactive digital map and related project materials (including promotional materials connected to the project).

This permission is non-exclusive, meaning creators are free to share, publish, or use their work elsewhere at any time. The project does not assume ownership of submitted works; it is granted the right only to display and promote the work in connection with the Interactive Mental Map initiative.

Submissions should be place specific in Northeast Ohio. Please include the cross streets where the experience takes place.

Submissions are open to anyone who currently lives in or has previously lived in Northeast Ohio.

There is no fee to submit work to the Interactive Mental Map project. We are grateful for your willingness to share your voice and creativity with the community. We ask that each artist submit one piece for consideration. There is a 500 word limit for written submissions.


Submissions (Ages 18+)

Open to adults (18 and older) living in or connected to Northeast Ohio.
Submit poetry, essays, short reflections, songs, instrumental pieces, paintings, photography, digital art, or mixed media.
Submissions will be accepted until June 1, 2026.

Project Purpose

The Interactive Mental Map exists to:

  • Amplify the voices of individuals who have faced mental health challenges

  • Share messages of resilience and hope

  • Foster connection across neighborhoods and generations

  • Reduce stigma through creativity and storytelling

Every submission contributes to a living archive of community strength.

Your story matters. Your art matters. Your hope matters.

Join us in building a map that reflects not just where we live — but how we heal.

Works can be submitted for consideration using the form below or by emailing mentalmap@chawc.org.

Submissions

The interactive Mental Map brings together storytelling and mental health to amplify voices of resilience and healing across our Northeast Ohio community. This project is a collaboration between Cleveland Health and Wellness Center and Literary Cleveland.