My Story: Why I Started Bloom Foundation

Hi! I’m Andi, the Founder & Executive Director of Bloom Foundation and this is my story about some of my challenging experiences and how they led to starting this organization to empower and encourage young women to grow through what they go through. Everyone has a story and I hope this is a reminder that we can take those challenges and turn them into opportunities to work towards a kinder world. 

A few moments from my childhood stood out to me, where I felt like maybe I didn’t belong. In fourth grade, I remember a boy said loudly to me, “Go back to China!” out of the blue. Another time, I was visiting a friend’s house and they shut the door and put a sign that said I couldn’t come in. Then, when I started middle school, there was a website called School Scandals where someone created the username “Andi Is A Loser” and started writing negative comments about me and how I dressed. It was my first experience with cyberbullying and it was so confusing to navigate at a young age and unfortunately it wasn’t my last experience.

 When I went to college, I was excited about a new start and new chapter. However, within the first few weeks, rumors about me started circulating around. I knew they weren’t true but I allowed myself to take the blame. Then there was a new website and again someone wrote Andi Long: Discuss. There were comments about my weight, appearance, and personality. 

“She’s fat and needs to go to the gym.” 

“She is so ugly.”

“She’s a b-word.” 

At the time, I didn’t have the tools to overcome so I let myself believe those things to be true. I stayed inside a lot and watched a lot of Twilight and ate too much ice cream as I fell into a bit of depression. I am so grateful that an older friend of mine realized I was going through a hard time and she invited me to church where I heard them share this quote that changed my life. 

“They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds.” 

At the time, I felt buried by other people’s words and what others thought of me but what if I was a seed being planted to bloom and also help others. From that moment, I found purpose in helping others and making a difference despite what I was going through. I started volunteering on the weekends, getting more involved in the community, being kinder to myself and others around me.  I also realized there are so many others going through this at a younger age and at a more intense and deeper level and maybe the purpose of what I went though was to go back and be who I needed when I was younger. 

So I made the decision to start Bloom Foundation and had the opportunity to mentor an 8th grade student at KidWorks in Santa Ana for 8 weeks. This student had been experiencing severe bullying and was called a snake and pushed around on a daily basis. After those 8 weeks, we saw this student grow more confident in herself as she reminded herself of her worth each week. At the end of the program, she said: “Now I can talk about my stories and how I was when I was their age and my words would be inspiring. Your story becomes your strength.”

Since partnering with KidWorks, we have been incredibly grateful to work with several organizations and we are looking forward to continuing to help girls realize their story becomes their strength. We hope you will take some time today to think about your own story and also become involved with organizations like Bloom Foundation that are providing the youth with needed resources and programs. I would also love to hear from you, so please feel free to reach out to me at andi@hellobloom.org if you have any questions or would like to get involved!

“They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds…”