About

The Charlie Fund was launched in 2021 to develop resources, programming, and other tools to help people of all ages build emotional fluency.

We do this through in-person events, building physical + digital materials to help people explore emotional fluency, and by supporting organizations that provide mental wellbeing services to our communities.

Who is Charlie?

Charlie is my younger brother. He brought an energy into every room that most people didn’t believe could be real, but was fully authentic in every way. He wanted to know everyone’s name, learn their story, and make sure they felt cared for every day.

In 2020, we lost Charlie to suicide. As so many stories go, he was the person you’d least expect: an amazing friend, intellectually engaged, part of a loving family, and had a huge group of people who would do anything for him.

We reflected on what kind of work we wanted to do that would not reflect his darkest moment but his greatest qualities. That meant finding something that brought people together, engaged their minds, and helped them communicate. Emotional fluency was the answer.”

- Max Himmelrich (Co-Founder, the Charlie Fund)

What is Emotional Fluency?

Emotional fluency is the ability to name, understand, and manage what you feel. We create tools for people of all ages to help build this skillset.

Emotions are a language. Every day, you practice and learn. There’s no point at which anybody is perfectly fluent in any language, because languages contain unlimited depth.

We believe in treating feelings the same way. The more you explore them, individually and in community, the more you’ll learn about your own experiences and ways to express them.

Our goals

  • Help people of all ages build emotional fluency.

  • Provide individuals seeking help with the resources they need, largely in the form of therapy provided by sliding-scale centers.

  • Give after-school and childcare facilities the tools + context they need to build emotional fluency in young people.

  • Support these organizations in their indirect needs for their communities: food, educational materials, facility improvements, etc.

  • Create resources that last through quality and design. How can we provide tools that have the physical ability to stay with people?

Who we work with

The Charlie Fund works alongside a wide range of organizations to provide resources + programming around emotional fluency.

Our partners include after-school community centers, sliding-scale therapy providers, mental health professionals, and more.

Emotional fluency is a skill that nobody ever perfects: No matter how old you are, or what your background is, there are always new ways to connect emotions and experiences.

If you’d like to learn more about providing our resources to your community or partnering with The Charlie Fund to host an event, distribute workbooks, or provide journals, get in touch here.

Our resources

  • The Emotional Fluency Journal: a 48-prompt notebook that gives people new ways to explore journaling and contextualize their experiences.

  • The Emotional Fluency Workbook: a 150-page starting point to help people understand the fundamentals of emotional fluency.

  • The Charlie Fund App: Coming soon, a new way to experience journaling + build emotional fluency anywhere, independently or in community.

  • In-Person Programming: Events, group sessions, and training to help people connect around these ideas and to distribute these resources in community.

What is emotional fluency?

Emotional fluency is the ability to name, understand, and manage what you feel. We create tools for people of all ages to help build this skillset.

Some people want to be smart about their feelings. We'd rather treat them like a language.

Sometimes, “emotional intelligence” is used here. Intelligence is a score, a measurement used to place people along a scale. Fluency is a practice: something that takes a ton of effort at first, slowly becomes more fluid, and eventually is second-nature.

We believe in treating emotions like language. The more you speak, write, learn, and practice, the more fluent you become.

What we do

People often use abstract terms
to build and “normalize" mental health dialogues. However, before one can properly do so, they must first learn the fundamentals of emotional language.

Our tools and resources help you take the first step in that process.
Our Blog
The Feelings Wheel
Our Blog
Emotional Fluency
The Emotional Fluency Journal
Coming Soon
Our Blog
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The Charlie Fund is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, operating under tax ID 99-2366601.

All materials, journals, workbooks, app content, and other resources produced, published, or distributed by the Charlie Fund are provided strictly for reference and educational purposes only.

The Content is designed to support emotional fluency and personal growth through exploration and reflection. It is not intended to provide or serve as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment of any kind. The Content is not meant to be complete, exhaustive, or comprehensive.  It is not designed or intended to address, diagnose, or treat any individual's specific medical, psychological, or mental health condition. Every person's circumstances are unique, and no journal, workbook, app feature, or other resource offered by the Organization can account for the full complexity of any individual's health, history, or needs. The Organization does not provide medical or mental health services, and engagement with our content does not create a provider-patient relationship of any kind.

You should always consult with a qualified and licensed physician, therapist, psychiatrist, or other appropriate medical provider regarding any questions or concerns you may have about your physical or mental health — regardless of anything you have read, reviewed, or engaged with in materials produced by or on behalf of the Charlie Fund.