Hogansville resident Toni Teagle aims to get conversations started about mental health in her community
Teagle herself struggles from anxiety and depression, and she is grieving from the loss of her first grandbaby Kaiden. She is channeling that grief into her work with NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) and the creation of her nonprofit, Echoes of Hope Collective Re
NAMI is a grassroots organization dedicated to building the lives of Americans affected by mental illness. Teagle is a certified peer support and NAMI educator, with experience facilitating NAMI Connection support groups and teaching NAMI Peer-to-Peer. She has NAMI training in Peer Specialist–Parent, Youth Mental First Aid, Leadership NAMI and additional mental health and community education. Teagle recently applied for a grant that she received to attend All Rise, a premier national training conference on addiction, mental health and justice innovation. She has also been involved in mental health education and storytelling through Ending the Silence and Sharing Your Story with Law Enforcement.
Teagle will graduate this November at age 55 from Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) with a bachelor of arts with a concentration in entrepreneurship and nonprofit leadership. Despite many medical challenges, she has received summa cum laude and Dean’s List honors. She has also received the 2026 SNHU Penman Pursuits Award, an award she was nominated for by her advisor that “acknowledges and celebrates students who have their unique SNHU story and success who will inspire their peers.”
Teagle wants to put her college experience to good use to be well trained to lead NAMI and her nonprofit’s efforts in her new home of Hogansville
She wants to bring NAMI’s Sharing Hope community conversation series to Hogansville and the surrounding community. In July, she completed NAMI Sharing Hope facilitator training. Sharing Hope uses storytelling and guided conversations to explore mental wellness, support and healing, with a key focus on Black and African ancestry communities. Teagle is working towards identifying a host, coordinating program support and developing a schedule before announcing sessions.
Her nonprofit, Echoes of Hope Collective Reembrance of her grandbaby. Teagle wants to be a mental health liaison between the hospital, police and community, providing the space and support for people to deal with grief and their feelings
“We need the space for the simple reason there’s nobody in this region advocating on behalf of mental illness,” Teagle said. “They will be the first one in this region now that is really opening up to mental illness and taking advantage of [the support] because the statistics and the data is showing that for this area we are a high risk [for suicide] and we’re not doing anything about it.”
Teagle plans to provide peer support and wellness gatherings, reh and recovery education, youth, family and older-adult wellness activities, and community partnerships focused on mental health
“My hope for Hogansville is that more people will know they have somewhere to begin. A conversation, a peer connection or help understanding a reg built. Its purpose is rooted in something I already know deeply: people deserve to be heard, and no one should be made to feel ashamed for needing support,” Teagle said
Echoes of Hope will be separate from NAMI, with its own responsibilities as a developing organization. Teagle intends for her nonprofit to be nonclinical with peer support, education and re be referred to qualified professionals
Teagle stresses everything done by Echoes of Hope and Sharing of Hope would be free. “I’m trying to do it for free. I’m not looking for money. I just want somebody to know that somebody else is out there to help them,” Teagle said
To make her initiatives possible, Teagle said she is working on securing funding and she also needs a dependable meeting space in Hogansville to host the programs
“A quiet, accessible room with seating, restrooms and enough privacy for conversation could provide a starting point. Consistent access would help us establish a schedule people could rely on. Along with a space, we would need appropriate facilitators, program materials, clear arrangements with the host, insurance, confidentiality expectations and referral procedures,” Teagle said. “I would welcome discussions with community organizations, churches, businesses and other potential hosts. A donated or affordable space could help us direct limited resources toward preparing and supporting the work.”
For more information, contact Teagle at 678-673-1058 or tteagle7@gmail.com
Teagle wants her legacy to be addressing mental health concerns and the high suicide rates in West Georgia. She is committed to hearing the voices and being the voice for those who have suffered in silence for far too long
“I do not want to take anyone’s voice away. I want to help people discover that their voice still matters,” Teagle shared. “I want this work to reach the entire family — children, teenagers, parents, grandparents, caregivers, and individuals from every walk of life. I want families to understand that grief does not have an age limit. Trauma does not affect everyone the same way. Mental health challenges do not define a person’s worth. And hope does not mean that someone has never experienced pain. I want Echoes of Hope to be a place where the unheard are listened to, the forgotten are acknowledged, families are educated, and hope is carried from one generation to the next. Because sometimes the greatest gift we can give someone is to hear them. And sometimes we must have the courage to raise our voices so the world knows they are there. Hope begins here.”
