03/09/2026
I lost my mind in November.
Or wait, maybe I should say my brain broke?
Yeah, maybe this second sentence is better because I kind of “felt” the moment it “snapped.” I’m not sure whether I heard it or felt it but I remember the second it happened because I was looking at the face of “the neurologist” and he was saying things to me while in my peripheral vision I saw various people in scrubs running into the room. He was telling me specific details about the test results and I remember looking at him so hard (can you look at someone hard) because I was trying to catch the words as they came out of his mouth -- I needed to “see” the words -- I needed the letters to be there so I could be sure I understood what he was saying but there was so much noise and so many bodies running around me and moving the bed and bringing the blood and he was talking and then even he realized his speech was not important right now because something really bad was happening in this room and he stopped talking and people kept rushing in and this was bad and then something broke. Something detached in my brain and I immediately thought, “Sh*t! This is it. THIS is what the books talk about. This is the moment when something goes terribly wrong and you are still there - still in the moment - still solving the problem - but something’s not right. My beautiful brain that I had worked so hard to fill with great things froze. Something is definitely not right here.”
And so there I stood with my broken brain, and my broken family member, and decisions to be made and coping to be coped. I was the best person in the world to be here right now for him. I knew what to tell him. “I bet you're scared right now, huh?” “Yes, yes, I am, he said,” and then he and I repeated over and over “I am safe. I am safe.” He was in the best possible place to have this horrible thing happen. Every person in the room was an expert. It was like watching a ballet - a choreographed life saving dance performed by people with intense expressions - this was nothing new to them. They looked like they knew what to do and that they knew it very well might not work. And my brother and I kept repeating, “I am safe. I am safe.”
And he was. The machines started to beep the right cadence. The blood was mopped up. The room thinned out. And there he and I sat. And our nervous systems relaxed a bit, our breathing slowed, we didn’t speak. It’s true, “I am safe.”
And then he wasn’t. It happened again. I ran for the nurse. The room filled back up. The ballet was reprised. The warriors wielded their weapons and fended off the problem - this time expressions more intense - optimism maybe a bit less optimistic - and I went through the motions, I knew my script, “Look at me. You are safe. You are safe.” And typing this right now, my heart is racing and I am remembering that I fully knew that everything would be okay and that maybe nothing would be okay and I just did what I knew to do surrounded by these amazing medical heros.
And then things settled down. The machines started to beep the right cadence. The blood was mopped up. The room thinned out. And there he and I sat. And our nervous systems relaxed a bit, our breathing slowed, we didn’t speak. Again it was true, “I am safe.”
And then he wasn’t. It happened again. Are you flipping kidding me? I ran for the nurse - and this third version - this flipping third version of this dance was performed by a cast who was exhausted and no one would meet my eye and the one nurse, the younger one, this new one said out loud in despair, “I know how this is going to end,” then noticed that I’d heard him. I don’t think he realized his mouth had said the words. I think he thought he had just thought them. But he was simply speaking what everyone was thinking. Because I was also thinking that, but my mouth was saying, “I am safe. I am safe.”
And again, he was safe. The machines started to beep the right cadence. The blood was mopped up. The room thinned out. And there he and I sat. And our nervous systems relaxed a bit, our breathing slowed, we didn’t speak. He fell into a deep sleep. And I sat in a hospital room knowing that my beautiful brain was broken. And I did not like the knowing of that.
Ultimately those remarkable experts saved him and he went home to recuperate. And I went home with a broken brain. And I came back to work and I joked with my staff and filled out the paperwork and I taught people things and my mind was not working. This was not okay.
I scheduled a session of Equine Therapy, because if anything would help it would be the horses. Don’t ask me why it works - it just does. Roll your eyes all you want. I know results when I see them.
I went during the one week in the history of mankind when it rained and rained in Phoenix. The therapist called and said the arena is a wreck. It’s muddy and you’ll be slogging around during the session - do you want to reschedule? Absolutely not - my life is muddy and I’m slogging around in it - this is the perfect tableau.
Before entering the arena they asked, “what do you need today?” And I said, “I need to cry and scream and rage.” Then I asked if that would upset the horses and the equine specialist simply said, “We’ll see.” He assured me that I don’t need to worry about the horses. And so I slogged and tripped through the mud and sobbed and yelled and raged. I turned and saw two horses fighting - they were biting each other and I panicked - did I cause this? I’d never seen anything like this, and I guiltily looked to the specialist who silently assured me, this all is fine. The horses are fine - they are reflecting what is happening in me - they are helping me get this out. And they did. They surrounded me. They provided a mirror for me. They reminded me how strong I am. They helped put my brain together again.
So why am I telling you this? Our marketing department, otherwise known as “Janice,” kept telling me I need to get a blog done - do a blog - make a blog. And all the blog ideas seemed pointless and small and a waste of everyone’s time. If I’m going to say something I need to say something meaningful.
And this is the big news folks. The blessing was that I was able to experience what so many of our kiddos and clients experience. A trauma so big that it breaks your brain. And you’re stuck and you’re lost and have to have help to fix it. And lucky me, I knew where to go for help. And I could pay for the help. And I got the help.
And as a supporter you are helping Everybody Matters be the place where people can go, where people can afford and where people can get the help. You are the reason they can know, “I am safe.”
Be a part of Everybody Matters by designating your Arizona Qualifying Charitable Organization tax credit donation (Remember, you get this donation back dollar for dollar in your AZ taxes. Please donate today.
Back to the Drawing Board
Gosh darn it - here we go again -
So, it turns our our recent research (you’ll hear about this next blog when it’s totally complete) leads us to believe that even post-Covid Everybody Matters kiddos are flourishing, succeeding, grab a thesaurus and insert your own words here, and they are doing this in record time!
This makes us proud. We’ve figured out how to train interns to guide children to find their own positive solutions.
But even more so - this makes us CURIOUS.
We Break the Rules
We break the rules. On purpose. Pretty regularly.
The first year of Everybody Matters, Franco needed to move to a different school for special services.
Franco’s mother was the opposite of happy about that and stated rather forcefully, “No! Absolutely not. Franco has Everybody Matters here and he can not move unless he gets Everybody Matters at the new school!”
Everybody Matters was not at the new school.
The Principal turned to me imploringly, “Can you follow him to the new school?”
We’re Double Digits!!!
Great news - Everybody Matters turns 10 this year and what a decade!
If you’ve received this blog, you’ve been instrumental in helping us grow from serving 150 kiddos in Year One to over 1,000 a year, providing over 10,000 meetings a year all across the state.
Covid gave us the gift of learning to perform virtual services and we’ve maximized virtual opportunities. Currently we help kiddos in the super rural areas of Fredonia and the Grand Canyon and have an MSW student in Salem, Oregon who provides virtual support to students on the Apache Reservation near Globe, Arizona. Yeah, that’s cool.
Breaking News - Everybody Matters CEO Cries in Front of Strangers
This week I cried in front of a bunch of strangers and the reason is we had been nominated and selected as a…
The Results are In Folks!
The Results are In Folks!
Your donations helped our interns accomplish all of this in 2023-24!!
1,719 students served!
Over FOURTEEN THOUSAND face to face supportive meetings!
89.5% of students served reported elements of their well being improving!
98.6% of Teachers would refer another student or other teachers to Everybody Matters.
100% of interns would refer Everybody Matters to other interns.
It’s true - thanks to you - with Everybody Matters, Everybody Wins!!
The Art of the Humble Brag
So - after the third time in two weeks of hearing that I have to learn to Humble Brag - I think I’m catching on. No, I’m not bragging about the “catching on” part. Heck, I’m pretty sure I’m not actually bragging about anything here - except that maybe I surround myself with people who give me good advice such as, “Hey, Lori, you really need to embrace humble bragging.”
It goes against my upbringing. Small town Wyoming girls don’t brag about what we do. We just get up, work hard, make a difference, fall asleep, then rinse and repeat. It’s that simple. You don’t do the good work so people notice it. You do the good work because you do the good work. However, it’s been brought to my attention that once you’ve built an impact organization that leads to significant positive transformation
It’s Better to Receive Than to Give
Whaaaaaaaaaat??? Wait a minute! What an embarrassing typo. We all know it’s better to give than to receive. Right? So, what’s up here? Am I just saying this to be provocative or is this the ultimate example of dyslexia with ENTIRE WORD swapping?
Well, maybe a little bit of all of the above.
I’m super excited to announce that over the past few months I have finally fully embraced (or at least mostly embraced) the notion that it is at least “okay” to actually accept things from others. Accept help, accept compliments, accept donations. I’d dipped my toe into the idea that yes - it’s “okay.” I was a novice at this so I wasn’t running around pell mell saying, “I’m prepared…
Upside Down and Feet First!
So, back from sabbatical and remiss in posting a blog yet, partially on accounta trying to decide the best gem to share about the break and partially on accounta it’s “that time of the year” when we’re getting everything UP and RUNNING. Which brings us to this blog, when I recount a tale in which I was neither up nor running.
I bring you now the LIVING METAPHOR for what I learned on sabbatical. I’d flown into London - whee - so exciting - can’t wait to eat some warm tasty scones and hear English pronounced like, well, English. I’m traveling light-ish so I take my two little rolling bags and hop on the tube into the city. I arrive at Paddington Station (I didn’t really arrive at Paddington Station, but wouldn’t that have been so cool if I did…
WELCOME BACK, LORI!
WELCOME BACK, LORI!
Lori Madrid is on her way back soon from a sabbatical. Cheers to professional stability and the profound mind shifts that come from a heartfelt, hard-earned healthy break!
Let’s welcome her back with a blog in her honor…
Our CEO, founder and head visionary Lori Madrid, MSW, LCSW is on a sabbatical with absolute faith in her crackerjack team to keep the well-oiled machine that is Everybody Matters running smoothly while she is out.
I’m mad at my team!
Yeah, you read that correctly. I’m mad at the whole Everybody Matters team, so read on as I spill the tea! You wanna read this - it’s super juicy!
Here’s the deal - I woke up one morning last Fall and didn’t want to come to work.
I panicked.
Now I realize that this may not be out of the norm for some people, but in my 57 years on the planet I have NEVER not wanted to come to work. Even if I knew it was going to be a tough day - I still wanted to go - I love a challenge.
Everybody Thrives
Just when you thought Everybody Matters couldn’t get any better - we have launched…..
Wait for it …..
Everybody THRIVES!!
Yep, we now offer virtual sessions to people at an affordable sliding scale!
Specifically we can assist with:
Enhancing Relationships
Emerging from a sense of “feeling stuck”
Finding a new Direction
Navigating Life Transitions…
Wait a sec - is that a knife?
So here’s what went down. Last weekend I decided to use the light rail for the first time. I was in downtown Phoenix and thought this would be fun. You know - help the environment and all that.
So, I’m trying to get a ticket from the kiosk, and the whole while, in my peripheral vision, I see a guy leaning against a post in kind of fatigues with a ski mask over his head and face. It’s not ski mask weather. I take note of this. The best I can tell, there’s no place he could hiding a major weapon. But still, come on, this is a bit sketch.
The kiosk won’t take my credit card. Then it won’t take my debit card. Then it won’t take my cash. And the whole while there’s a guy in a mask leaning against a post - this is a bit sketch.
UN - Happy Holidays!!
Ew! Lori, why would you title your blog’ “Unhappy Holidays”? Is that a weird typo? What’s wrong with you, woman?
Nope, that was intentional folks. This is an important message - but at least I waited to send it until you’d all eaten your cookies and opened your presents. Right? At least you got to chime in the New Year and make those resolutions you’ve already forgotten (tee hee). At least I had the holiday spirit to do THAT!
And as if unhappy holidays weren’t enough of a bummer, many of our kiddos are facing a pretty bleak New Year too. I’m not saying this to be buzzkill Barbie. I’m saying it because it’s true. Because, on the regular, our team is meeting with young people across Arizona whose lives are in disarray, and despite their parents’ best efforts, things are just HARD -- like, ALL THE TIME!
Tell Me Whatcha Want, Whatcha Really Really Want!
I think the combination of my purple shirt and gray hair is the reason I was accosted. And maybe saying accosted is a bit dramatic, and maybe it’s more fun to be a little dramatic, but for the sake of accuracy I’ll start over here.
So, I’d just finished facilitating a super fun social emotional group on an elementary school playground and, wearing my perfectly branded Everybody Matters Purple Polo, I was wading through a swarm of running, jumping, gleeful second graders when I noticed a different second grader running full speed towards me, and as he approached I realized he was not at all gleeful and he was barely able to stop short before barreling into me.
Unexpected Money
I got unexpected money in the mail.
Isn't it funny that when we read something like that, it can take a second to take it in, because we're more used to hearing people say "I got this BILL in the mail that I didn’t know about and now, what I’m I going to do?"
This was opposite that. I got unexpected money in the mail…
The Overdone Ripple Effect Analogy
Tristan burst into my office shouting “that was the best therapy session I’ve ever done!” Which is basically the social worker’s version of spiking the ball in the end zone! To say he was floating is an over statement, but not much of one, and his words tripped over themselves as he paced back and forth recounting that this lady has made so much progress in such a short time and she had been so worried about coming to therapy in the first place and she was so committed to getting better and she was paying attention to her patterns and taking responsibility and and and and and…. And as Tristan gushed about the woman’s success…
Back to School
Ah, the sights and smells of back to school! Huge primary colored posters in stores touting the best binders and newest backpack designs. Bright shiny new packs of crayons and markers organized perfectly on the store shelves or overflowing in those giant bins. And let’s admit it, even though those crayons are still in their packages you can smell ‘em, can’t you? Yes, you can! You remember that smell. And let's face it, maybe some of you can even TASTE 'em. You tasters were a wilder breed of elementary student!
And then the epic - insert drum roll here - Back to School/Meet the Teacher night!! Last week I represented Everybody Matters at one, and was honored to bear witness to the drama that is middle school.
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
So, a while back I was talking with an organization in Staten Island, New York about partnering with them and bringing Everybody Matters to the East Coast. One of the people on the call was a high powered community organizer who had worked both for the city and the state, and as I explained how we started the program, she politely interrupted and said, “Uh, wait a minute. Are you telling me that a school district just let you pilot this program? That doesn’t make sense. Districts aren’t nimble enough to let someone do that? How did it make it through committee? How did it make it through the board? This is nothing short of a miracle!
"You got that right!” I said, “And the Miracle’s name is Kim Guerin."
This Blog is Late!
This blog is late. Super. Duper. Late. Like a week overdue. Or more? I lost track. I was supposed to have it completed prior. I’d made a commitment. We created a schedule and I had an obligation. I promised.
I failed.
Oh wait, I forgot to tell you this part. I got COVID. Yep. Right when this lovely blog was due, I was a nose blowing, body aching, mind clouded mess. So, I was sent the reminder to fulfill my promise, but couldn’t write a thing.
And it nagged at me that I was failing. But my head hurt behind my eyeball and my ears were kinda ringing so I acquiesced to failure and realized something pretty important.
I failed. And. It. Didn’t. Matter.
What’s in a Name?
People often ask, "why did you name your program Everybody Matters?" The answer is unexpected and beautiful.
Prior to founding Everybody Matters, I was a school social worker at a Jr. High and the Vice Principal asked me if I'd be willing to run afterschool detention.
"Nope," I said. "I don't believe that punishment changes behavior, so I'm not in the punishment business. HOWEVER I'll happily create an afterschool Skills of Success class, and you can change the roster daily and I'll meet with students and teach them alternative behaviors to use when they are stressed…