Original Article
Alyssa Guzman, August 31, 2022 – It took a woman jumping from the 29th floor of a Manhattan luxury apartment building for the pageant industry to incite change.
Miss Earth USA announced what it claims will be the biggest mental health initiative in the business - declaring that this is a pageant-wide issue.
Many contestants came forward after Cheslie's death to share their own struggles, including Miss Earth USA 2017 and one of Cheslie's best friends, Andreia Gibau, 27, of Brooklyn, and current Miss Earth USA Eco Emma Loney, 25, of Wisconsin.
'[Her death] made me realize it doesn't matter how well known you are, what title you hold, how famous you are, mental health affects everybody. And that the pressures of pageantry are real and the expectations of being perfect or needing to be perfect are real,' Loney told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
The initiative includes different seminars, mindfulness breaks during pageant week, as well designating 10 wellness ambassadors - who are not only within Miss Earth USA, but across all pageants in the US.
Miss Earth USA's National Director Laura Clark decided after Cheslie's death that it wouldn't happened again, not just in her own pageant, but all pageants.
'After Cheslie's death, we said this is going to be a goal of ours to make sure that there is a clear initiative,' Clark told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
'That was definitely the turning point for me, personally, as a leader in the pageant community.
Watch Clark & Loney Interviews
The Miss Earth USA organization supports the B4ACUSA Foundation 501(C)3 dedicated to unifying women through activism. In 2022, the nonprofit expanded efforts to include the Still She Rose initiative, promoting mental health and wellness in the pageant community. Learn more at www.b4acusa.org.
