This week’s celebrity is one of the most inspiring women I know, Kristina Saffran! After battling an eating disorder at the age of ten and again at thirteen, Kristina started Project Heal to help girls going through the same difficulties. Keep reading to hear her fabulous story and email us if you are interested in donating to Project Heal! Thanks Kristina for being a role model to girls everywhere!
First, the basics! Tell us a little about yourself — where are you from, what do you study, and what do you enjoy doing in your free time? And your house of course!
I’m from Douglaston, New York, and I’m a psychology concentrator in Winthrop House. When I’m not running Project HEAL (more below), I love going out to dinner with my friends, watching movies, yoga, riding my bike, and sampling the new flavors at JP licks.
What are some of the extracurricular activities are you involved with on campus?
My main extracurricular is running Project HEAL, the organization that I founded in 2008. Project HEAL: Help to Eat, Accept and Live (www.theprojectheal.org) is a not-for-profit organization that raises money for people with eating disorders who are not able to afford treatment, and promotes healthy body image and self esteem in hopes of preventing future eating disorders. I also co-ran the 2012 Harvard Social Innovation Collaborative Summit on Social Entrepreneurship.
What are your plans for this summer?
I’m working in New York for an organization called the Child Mind Institute. CMI is committed to finding more effective treatments for childhood psychiatric and learning disorders, building the science of healthy brain development, and empowering children and their families with help, hope, and answers. I was drawn to the organization because it combines these goals of accessible treatment for all, with a focus on cutting edge science and developing and delivering treatments that will really work – something that is hard to find in the psychiatric community and really resonates with my work with Project HEAL.
What would be your dream job after graduation?
After taking some time off (hopefully traveling!), I plan to pursue my PHD in clinical psychology. Eventually, I would love to run my own treatment center for people with eating disorders, combining my academic interests of developing and disseminating new and effective treatments for eating disorders with my love of people and helping them to regain their lives.
What is your absolute favorite movie?
When I’m in a serious mood, A Beautiful Mind. When I’m not, Pretty Woman.
How did you decide to start Project Heal? And tell us a little more about how awesome it is!
I was first diagnosed with anorexia when I was 10 years olds, and after a brief period of good health, relapsed when I was 13 and spent the next year in and out of treatment centers. After many years of intensive treatment and hard work, I was able to recover from the disorder, and wanted to help others find it as well. I reconnected with my best friend from treatment during my sophomore year of high school, and the two of us developed the initial idea for Project HEAL.
A few things inspired my cofounder and I to take action. First, we had seen firsthand the horrible effects of insufficient insurance coverage for eating disorder treatment, which can run upwards of $30,000 a month. We saw many eating disorder sufferers who were not able to get the treatment they desperately needed, or if they were lucky enough to get help, kicked out because they were “medically stable” just when they were beginning to scrape surface on the real issues. We were lucky because our insurance did cover most of our treatment, and our parents could thankfully afford to pay what it didn’t, but we knew many people who were not as fortunate. We also knew that, although, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, people can be fully cured if they get the proper help (the two of us, and our seven scholarship recipients, are proof of that).
Second, when we returned to the “real world” after receiving treatment, we realized that the kids back at school and in our communities were really hesitant to talk about eating disorders, and when they did there were a lot of misconceptions and mis-portrayals. And, somewhat related to this, we realized that our “normal” high school friends also really struggled with body-image issues and low self-esteem, and held themselves to unrealistic standards. Seeing all of this, we felt that there was a need for increased awareness of eating disorders among teens and adolescents, and their parents.. And we felt that eating disorder awareness would be much more powerful coming from peers their age, who had personally experienced the disorder.
Finally, when we were in treatment, we really lacked hope. And the few times that we heard stories of girls who had recovered, it sparked a bit of hope.. We really wanted to serve as role models and mentors to girls who thought, “I can never get better,” because we were once those girls with that very same sentiment. A big part of Project HEAL is simply serving as a testament that full recovery from an eating disorder is possible.
Since it’s founding in 2008, Project HEAL has raised over $220,000 through fundraisers, grants, private donations, and merchandise sales, and has sent seven applicants to treatment. There are currently over 25 chapters of Project HEAL across the United States and Canada that work to spread the mission and values of Project HEAL. My cofounder and I and our chapter leaders also speak regularly at high schools, hospital programs and panel talks, sharing our personal stories and educating peers on eating disorders. Additionally, we serve as mentors to both young girls who are battling eating disorders and “normal” teenage girls who experience low self-esteem, and as consultants to parents, siblings, friends, and treatment providers dealing with these disorders. Project HEAL was recently featured in People Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and on The Insider.
What does female empowerment mean to you?
I believe that females are empowered when they feel confident and beautiful in themselves and their abilities. This means working on ways to improve self-esteem and self-image, to feel comfortable and happy in your own skin. It also means finding true interests and passions – things that you love to do and things that make you tick – and investing your time and energy in the things that really matter.
What do you think all girls should know and believe in?
Confidence is what really makes people beautiful. When I think of the people who I am most attracted to in life, it actually has much less to do with their outward physical appearance and much more to do with how they carry themselves, the comfort and certainty they have when they speak, the confidence they exude. Even more than that, I am attracted to people who have passion. Who spend their time thinking about big ideas, and how they can give back to other people and make the world a better place. This is true beauty – the kind that radiates and attracts people to you.