Meet Alexa Giardino, almost-graduate of New Paltz, a part of Social Justice Coalition (SJC), and founder of campus organization Project HEAL, whose mission is to fundraise for the treatment of eating disorders, raise awareness, and educate people. A good friend and clear leader, with her bright and outgoing demeanor and bubbly personality, you would never have guessed that Alexa struggled with a difficult past that lead her up to this point in her life.
The truth is that Project HEAL’s cause hits home for Alexa, who struggled with an eating disorder beginning at the age of 16, and was officially diagnosed with bulimia when she was 19.
“It was something I hid for a long time,” she admits. “It was because I was never skinny. I was bullied a lot, and teased a lot for being fat, even in High School. I grew up in a family where athleticism, and being active, was really important, so a lot of pressure surrounded me to be thin. It started out with a lot of exercising and not eating a lot, and I didn’t see anything wrong at first- I thought I had control and that I was fine. I was always someone who was okay with asking for support, but I didn’t really tell people. In college, my partner at the time and my mom, started catching on to my purging behaviors and how I would restrict and stuff, and they pushed me to talk about it,” which is when Alexa started her road to recovery. “I never went inpatient myself, I was seeing a psychiatrist and a social worker. After that I just became focused on getting better.”
Alexa is extremely open when speaking about her disorder–which she emphasizes is just that: a mental disorder. “These behaviors are really addictive. Eating disorders are also so interesting, because they’re not only about food and not giving the body nutrition,” says Alexa. “However, food is something that is around you all the time, and it just becomes your enemy. You’re so scared of being heavy, or gaining weight, so food becomes something that is evil. It’s something I had to work at every day.”
These days, Alexa says she is in the place where she knows her behaviors were not okay, and at the end of the day the disorder was making her destroy her body and herself. “When you start recovering, you get angry with yourself for treating your body that way.”
When she was in the middle of her healing process, her brother’s girlfriend is the one that introduced her to Project HEAL. “At that point, a year and a half ago, I was pretty far into recovery, and I knew that there was support from people all around me. It makes it less scary.”
Alexa applied for Project HEAL to be a club at New Paltz in Spring ‘15, then it was chartered in October. It is a national non-profit organization, with multiple chapters throughout the U.S., as well as one in Canada and even one in Australia, that works to not only bring awareness to eating disorders but also help those diagnosed with them get through treatment. “Whatever money our chapter gets goes straight towards the treatment of eating disorders,” says Alexa, which can end up costing up to $30,000 a month, and which many insurance companies will not cover.
At the moment, the members of Project HEAL are working on giving people grants, and the organization has been able to send 21 people to treatment through scholarships – “One thing that’s really important is the idea that recovery is possible, which is why we’re working to get rid of the stigma around eating disorders, and to educate people on them, and promote body positivity.”
The club has raised over $600 since being chartered at New Paltz, and aim to put on one large event per semester. In the Fall, they hosted “Healing Through the Holidays,” and had the campus nutritionist, Emily Ferencik, and a past human services alumni speak about staying strong through the holiday season when struggling with an eating disorder. This semester, they are looking forward to “Healing Under the Stars,” their first annual Spring Gala at Murphy’s Restaurant and Pub on Main Street, on Thursday, April 14th from 9 PM to 12 AM. It is a 21+ open bar, $28 per person, and 35% of all proceeds will go directly towards eating disorder treatment. Alexa says they are looking to make this gala an annual event.
The club has also hosted multiple tabling events, with themes such as “what recovery means to you,” and “what makes you beautiful,” and also hosted events during National Eating Disorders Awareness (NEDA) week in February with RA’s and campus nutritionist. Every little thing the club is able to do helps bring awareness and educate them on what eating disorders actually mean, while stomping out misconceptions and the stigma around them.
So what exactly is the “stigma” around eating disorders? There can be many misconceptions surrounding them, from people who have not educated themselves. According to Alexa, “There is the idea out there that they are very vain disorders, that are all about losing weight and looking a certain way. They are a mental illness, which people don’t recognize, and they have the highest mortality rate out of all mental illnesses.” There is also a misconception that eating disorders only affect a certain group of people: those who are well-off, privileged, and/or white. “It affects men, women, young girls and old… it doesn’t discriminate by gender or race or class,” says Alexa. It also does not discriminate based on what your weight is, at all. Actually, ⅔ of those who struggle with eating disorders are of average weight or are overweight.
Something that is also important to recognize is the way you are looking at weight – even if you do not have an eating disorder yourself, or think you know anyone that does. Those with eating disorders are oftentimes congratulated at first by the people around them for losing weight or looking skinny, without being asked if they are going about it in a healthy way. This can reinforce the problem, because those who are inflicted are constantly encouraged to do something that is harmful to themselves.
Another misconception that Alexa notes is that the only eating disorders that exist are anorexia and bulimia, when there are really many other forms. For example, “there is binge eating disorder which always gets overlooked,” as well as Osfed– “Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders,” which include disorders that can still be severe but can not be classified into any specific category.
When asked if there is one message she would like to spread to girls who are struggling with eating disorders, what it would be, Alexa responds: “You will get through it. Recovery is possible for you–it’s not easy, but it’s worth it. You are so much more than your body weight and how you look. Don’t forget that you’re beautiful inside and out, no matter what.”
Project HEAL is always looking for new members, and accepts everyone, whether or not you are recovered, recovering, or have no personal association at all with eating disorders. “We want people to feel safe and comfortable,” Alexa says, “we accept everybody.” The club meets Mondays at 9 PM in SUB 414, or you can email newpaltz@theprojectheal.org to get more information.
Find them on Facebook here, or on Twitter and Instagram @np_projectheal.