Jeigh Billingy
Hi! I’m “Jeigh” and I’m the Executive Director and founder of Mysuspire, INC. I was adopted at birth with my twin sister, to Carribean Immigrants who raised us with the value of hard work. I grew up in sunny Southern California, where art, music, and people have always been my passion. I became an EMT in highschool and went to college in Tennessee. I completed my BSW with minors in behavioral management and religion. I finished my Master’s in Social work with an emphasis in Trauma and Emergency Management; and went on to become a Certified School Social Worker, and a Licensed Clinical Social worker. I have practiced community organizing, training, and therapy with at-risk populations, youth, families, and crisis services for almost 10 years. I started this organization after seeing the effects that a lack of intentional education, intervention, and awareness can have on communities, professionals, families and individuals. In my personal life, people that I cared about very much struggled to find appropriate help and information for their own mental health journeys. I decided that I would do my part and use my voice to share excellent, creative, representational, culturally sensitive and trauma informed mental health and wellness education, intervention and awareness. I love to paint, garden, hike, and craft in my free time! I am excited to serve you! Thanks for being here.
Why I Started MySuspire
Mysuspire started out of a genuine desire to see “mental health” destigmatized and skilled mental healthcare more accessible. It was founded by Jeigh Billingy, MSW, LCSW after her own experiences with stigma, marginalization, childhood trauma and lack of equitable access to competent and relevant trauma focused mental health care. The nonprofit grew out of an innovative community awareness event that turned into a private practice. Now, this growing organization seeks to provide many people access to destigmatized awareness, educational tools and outlets, and highly trained affordable mental healthcare.
In 2018, after a motorcycle accident and a traumatic end to a very important relationship (partially due to unaddressed cultural traumas), Jeigh found therapy and services to be very expensive, stigmatizing and hands off. In 2019, with the climactic separation of family members due to more unaddressed trauma, Jeigh decided to celebrate the ambiguity that is “mental health” in all of us. After receiving her trainings in several high-level trauma intervention modalities, Jeigh began to explore, even further, the world of access to high-level care. What manifested was a disparate mental healthcare system. Jeigh began to dream of creative ways to share mental health awareness with her community. That fall, The Mental Health Fun Fair was organized to be a celebration of mental health and a birthday party for Jeigh. Through manifesting that dream, Suspire, LLC was born.
Having worked in a myriad of community based and crisis services for over half a decade at that point, it became clear that offering mental health care to individuals at reduced rates would be the answer to supporting the mental well-being of herself and her related underserved community. Preforming mostly pro-bono work, the need for educating groups, other service providers, and even clients about mental health and wellbeing also became evident.
Jeigh led workshops, groups and sessions. During the 2020 pandemic the need for culturally competent and intersectional leadership in mental healthcare grew exponentially. Through community collaborations and partnerships Mysuspire, INC 501c(3) was filed and born. It has grown in reception since and continues to be a sought after resource that spans across ages, locations, communities and professions.
