Growing up, Alex Kovarovic had a hard time fitting in.

“When I was grown up, I struggled a lot with mental health, bullying, anxiety, depression throughout school. My senior year of high school, I really contemplated suicide," said Kovarovic, the founder of One Life Project.

Kovarovic started his nonprofit One Life Project in 2016. It's a national organization that goes into schools and starts conversations about mental health.

“Being able to help people who I know are going through similar things and the same things I felt, and being able to turn that around for them, is really important for me," Kovarovic said.

The One Life Project also writes programing for school districts about how to talk to kids about mental health, giving them the knowledge and resources to make sure no child feels alone.

“I mean, when I went to school, my entire 12, 13, years of school, I took health class and we touched on mental health for maybe half a month, and that was really all we had," Kovarovic said. “There wasn’t posters for help, we didn't know who to contact, and I think being able to build that bridge and being able to provide those services for teenagers nowadays is very successful, because it allows them to reach out for help when they might not know what’s out there.”

The CDC reported that across the country in 2019, nearly one in five high school students seriously considered attempting suicide. Aimee Gross knows what that’s like and has been involved with One Life Project for about five years.

“I thought of ways of taking my own life. I never thought I would make it this far,” said Gross, the One Life director of education and research. “Through therapy, medication and different programs like One Life, I found that recovery is possible and you don’t have to live in despair.”

The organization has more than 2,500 volunteers nationwide, and eventually Kovarovic hopes to have a presence in all 50 states.