This Woman Funded 1,300 Hours of Therapy for People in Need, with a Little Help from Harry Styles (Exclusive)
This Woman Funded 1,300 Hours of Therapy for People in Need, with a Little Help from Harry Styles (Exclusive)
Cara Lynn ShultzWed, April 1, 2026 at 7:35 PM UTC
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Other People Founder Elena KilgoreCredit: Em Lasater -
Elena Kilgore started Other People Fund to help make therapy more accessible through proceeds from whimsical merch
Harry Styles' stylist purchased items from the brand, leading to a $40,000 sales boost and increased therapy funding
The nonprofit has funded 1,300 therapy sessions so far
When Elena Kilgore realized the high cost of mental health services she vowed to do something about it.
The Buffalo native was 23 at the time and seeing a therapist. While she lucked out in finding a "really great provider with a sliding scale," many of her friends who sought therapy couldn't afford it, she tells PEOPLE exclusively.
A social media marketer by day, Kilgore, now 28, started brainstorming how to raise money for therapy when she came up with the idea for Other People Fund. The charitable line of bags and shirts has since paid for 1,300 therapy sessions.
Harry Styles (left) has been spotted with the tote from Other People FundCredit: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty; Elena Kilgore
The idea, she tells PEOPLE, was to juxtapose a quippy tagline, "I think we should see other people — and by other people, I mean therapists," alongside a picture of a couple in the midst of a breakup. But it would be a couple that should never have gotten together in the first place, like a rat and a cat, or the sun and the moon. "I was like, 'Let me put that on a shirt.' "
Since its inception in 2021, Kilgore says 100% of proceeds have gone to fund therapy via her nonprofit, Support for the Psyche (which also accepts donations). Most people who apply for financial support receive an average of three therapy sessions, covered by the sale of Kilgore's accessories line.
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Kilgore recalls creating the line with a graphic designer. She said, "I don't want it to be, like, a 2000s graphic tee. I want it to be something Harry Styles would wear. It's an actual note that I told her."
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She later reached out to Harry Lambert, Styles' stylist, sharing that the singer might appreciate her merch, since he's a vocal supporter of therapy. "I had a DM, a message on my website, an email, all of these messages … it was Harry Lambert and he said, 'Do you ship to the U.K.? I want to buy a shirt. How do we get a shirt? This is awesome.' "
The stylist also "insisted on paying in full" — not usually the case when it comes to celebrities — and Kilgore shipped Styles two T-shirts and tote. A few months later, Harry was spotted carrying her tote.
One of the totes from Other People FundCredit: Em Lasater
It sparked "an incredible uptick in sales," she says. "We did around $40,000 in sales, so Harry like is singularly responsible for hundreds of people being able to go to therapy."
Kilgore credits Styles and others who speak up about the benefits of therapy: "I think it's awesome that we've kind of moved toward a conversation of the importance of therapy," she tells PEOPLE.
But, as she points out, "we're still missing the access piece. Therapy is just not accessible for most Americans. The average cost of a therapy session is between $100 to $200, which is just not a resource that most Americans can afford on any ongoing basis. So that's the missing piece that Other People Fund tries to fill."
Visit OtherPeopleFund to purchase items that help pay for therapy, or visit SupportForThePsyche to apply for financial help.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
