Founded by Miriam D. Rivera · Indiana
Break the
stigma
out loud.
Art, fashion and lived experience that make mental illness and addiction sayable — and put a portion of every sale into a scholarship for students who grew up inside it.
Miriam D. Rivera — founder, speaker, graduate student
The promise behind every product
A portion of all proceeds goes into the William Rivera Memorial Scholarship Fund.
$600
Award
1
Student funded
Open to high school, college and trade students who have a parent diagnosed with a mental illness or a substance use disorder.
Five ways this company works
One mission,
five front doors.
Stay Inspired Knowledge Is Power LLC promotes mental health, shares ways to break the stigma, and gives students and families real mental health and substance use resources — while inspiring people through art, fashion, design, inspirational quotes and motivational video.
Swag
The collection
Shirts, aprons, tumblers and bracelets that start the conversation — and fund the scholarship.
Speaking
Miriam D.R. Speaks
Lived experience, child welfare background, and graduate study, brought to schools and youth programs.
Education
Learn
How addiction happens, explained by a mother who lost her son to substance use.
Scholarship
William Rivera Memorial Fund
For students who grew up with a parent affected by mental illness or substance use.
Resources
Get help now
Crisis lines, provider search by ZIP code, and Indiana-specific support.
Swag & merch
Wearable art with something to say
Roses, wings and music notes on shirts, aprons, tumblers and bracelets. It is not generic merch: every piece is a sentence someone else can read across a room.
Worn across Indiana
Speaking engagements
Miriam D.R. Speaks
Miriam talks to students about mental illness and substance use the way almost no one does — as the family member, not the textbook.
- Lived experience
- Miriam speaks as a mother and a family member, about what mental illness and addiction actually look like inside a home. Students recognize it immediately.
- Child welfare background
- Years of work in Indiana child welfare shape how she talks to young people, and to the adults responsible for them.
- Graduate study
- As a current graduate student, she pairs the story with the research, so a talk holds up in front of staff as well as students.
Now booking first engagements for the 2026–27 school year.
Education
How addiction happens
Start here. One video, made by a mother who lost her son to substance use, for families trying to understand what they are looking at.
- Addiction is not a character flaw
- It changes how the brain values reward, risk and relief. Understanding the mechanism is what makes it possible to respond instead of blame.
- Stigma is the reason people wait
- Most families lose time to shame before they lose it to the illness. Naming it plainly is the first intervention.
- Families need scripts, not slogans
- What to say, who to call, what to expect. That is the gap this material is built to close.
Video plays from YouTube. Nothing loads until you press play.
Scholarship
The William Rivera Memorial Scholarship Fund
The fund exists so that a student whose parent lives with mental illness or substance use disorder does not lose their education to it too.
$600
Award amount
Paid toward tuition or documented educational expenses.
1
Student funded so far
Every product sold moves the next one closer.
Who qualifies
- Currently enrolled or accepted at a high school, college, university or trade program
- Has a parent diagnosed with a mental illness or a substance use disorder
- Applying toward tuition or documented educational expenses
Named for Miriam’s son, William. The requirement is deliberate: this is the one thing on a student’s life that never shows up on a transcript, and almost never on a scholarship form either.
Resources
If you need help, start here
Crisis lines, treatment search by ZIP code, Indiana-specific programs, and support written for families and young people.
If this is a crisis
Free, confidential, 24 hours a day. You do not need a diagnosis to call.
4 resources
Find treatment and providers
Search by ZIP code for mental health and substance use care near you.
4 resources
Indiana support
State and local help for Hoosier families.
4 resources
For families and young people
Support built specifically for the people around someone who is struggling.
4 resources
“Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.”
Proverbs 3:13