Founded on the belief that every symptom deserves to be heard
We're a small nonprofit with a simple conviction: people living with Somatic Symptom Disorder deserve understanding, not dismissal.
Born from a search for answers
SSD Hope began in 2019, after our founder spent years watching a loved one move from clinic to clinic, carrying real and debilitating symptoms — and too often leaving without being believed.
What started as a handful of people sharing resources around a kitchen table has grown into a community of thousands. Along the way, one thing has never changed: we lead with compassion, and we treat every experience as valid.
Today we partner with clinicians, researchers, and — most importantly — people with lived experience to build the kind of support we wish had existed all along.
Our values
Four commitments shape every program, conversation, and decision we make.
Believe people
Symptoms are real. We start there, every time.
Whole-person care
Mind and body are never separate in how we support.
Community-led
Those with lived experience help steer our direction.
Open & honest
Clear information, transparent funding, no false promises.
“I wanted to build the door I couldn't find.”
"When someone I love started living with chronic, unexplained symptoms, I saw how isolating it could be — not just the illness, but the feeling of not being believed. I made a promise that no one in our community would have to navigate that alone.
SSD Hope is the result of that promise. It's imperfect, it's growing, and it's built with so many hands. But at its core it's simple: a place to be heard, to learn, and to find hope."
Allen
Founder & Executive Director
A team of advocates & allies
Staff, clinicians, and volunteers united by a shared belief in compassionate care.
Allen
Caregiver, advocate, and the heart behind SSD Hope.
Dr. Priya Shah
Liaison psychiatrist guiding our evidence-based resources.
Marcus Lee
Builds and supports our network of peer circles.
Sofia Alvarez
Helps members find clinicians who truly listen.
Milestones along the way
2019 — SSD Hope is founded around a kitchen table with our first peer circle of nine people.
2021 — We launch our free online resource library and welcome our 1,000th community member.
2023 — Care Navigation begins, partnering with our first 20 clinics across the country.
2025 — More than 12,000 people supported, with 86 active peer circles nationwide.
Want to be part of the next chapter?
Whether you give, volunteer, or simply share our work, you help someone feel believed.