I realized I’d been distracting myself for years. From my emotions. My potential. My own responsibilities to me. My dreams. What I wanted.

I gave everything to everyone until I was empty.  And I wasn’t aware of it. Not at all, back then. I forgot about me.  Once, I bought a sign that said: “Friends are therapists you can drink with.” It made me laugh. Of course I bought it.

But looking back, it wasn’t funny. And deep down, I knew that. That’s why I bought it, right? The “haha, all is going to be OK not going to happen to me” right?

But how often do therapists actually come over for a drink?
You’re not meeting your therapist for half-price wine Wednesdays. That wasn’t clever. That was me, knowing I was coping. I never thought this would happen. I thought I’d be 80 and golfing in Florida by the time someone really caught me.

We’re here to create a safe place where young people are informed. Without shame. Without judgment. With tools I didn’t have.

If you are here right now, know this. We see you.
You have been thought of in every single step we’ve taken to build LAF.

No matter where you are in your journey, whether you’re struggling with lifestyle habits, coping behaviours, personal relationships with alcohol, or living with any form of liver disease, you are welcome here.
Always. Support groups are coming. But for now, let this be your sign. You are not alone. And you never have to be again.

We are building a movement that empowers young adults to understand their liver. Not just in medical terms, but in emotional, mental, and lifestyle terms.

A movement that connects liver health with stress, coping, alcohol, eating patterns, and the habits we hide behind.

When nutrition drops, so does liver function.
When alcohol numbs, the liver takes the hit.
When no one talks about it, the silence turns deadly.

That is why the Liver Awareness Foundation was born.
To bridge the silence.
To give voice to what we are really facing.
To support mental health.
To offer education.
To create real tools and peer spaces for young people navigating risky patterns before they become crises.

We are not here to judge.
We are here to wake people up.
To educate. To empower.
And most of all, to humanize liver health.

I didn’t stop.
And I won’t stop.

To the mental health warriors, the health professionals, the students, the researchers, the clinicians, the experts, the advocates, the quiet supporters.
This is your invitation.

Help us build a future where young people are informed, supported, and never shamed for what they didn’t know.

Our founding principle is the one that saved mine:
Mind Your Liver. It Needs You.™

With love,
Vanessa Wojtala
Founder & President