Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your organization, Dirty Hands?

My name is Josh Moughan, and I am the co-founder of Dirty Hands Project. Dirty Hands Project is a non-profit, based in North Andover, MA, focused on making mental health a priority through normalizing the conversation around mental health and breaking down the stigma that often surrounds it.

Why was Dirty Hands created? Where did it get its name?

Dirty Hands Project was created in the wake of losing our son Ty in August of 2023, at the age of 18, to suicide. My wife, Liz, son, Jack, and daughter Vivia wanted to honor Ty in a way that he lived his life, by helping others.

Ty studied Arboriculture at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School in Danvers, MA. He loved being outdoors and was always working on some type of outdoor project. Ty was the neighborhood handy man and was always willing to help with any landscaping need. It wasn’t uncommon to come home from work and find Ty hoisting his little sister into a tree to teach her the art of tree climbing!

Ty, and his best friend, started their own tree care service in high school, Dudes Tree Care, and he was planning on attending the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at UMass Amherst.

The name came from Vivia writing down every letter in the alphabet and listing words that started with each letter. Through this process, Dirty Hands resonated with us for a number of reasons. First, Ty’s hands were always dirty; a good dirty from all the work he did with them, and we loved those dirty hands. Second, we believe that the only way to get to the root of the mental health issue is to roll up your sleeves, and get your hands dirty. Lastly, what we didn’t realize at the time, TY is right in the word Dirty!

Dirty Hands Project mirrors the way Ty chose to live life – by focusing on nature, using our voices for those still searching for theirs, and leading with our hearts.

Can you tell us about your Hike for Change along the Bay Circuit Trail during Mental Health Awareness Month?

The idea to hike the Bay Circuit Trail (BCT) came to me as as a way for me to connect with Ty while helping process the grief of losing him. Originally, it was something that I was going to do on my own, but as family and friends heard about it, they wanted to join, and the Hike for a Change was born.

May was chosen since it is Mental Health Awareness month, and we broke the trail into 23, 10-mile hikes, with the idea that we would have 23 people join me to help get me back to my car each day. We asked that each hiker help raise funds to go towards the Dirty Hands Project.

After a couple lonely days at the start, the registrations started coming in and we ended up with 160 people hiking with us along the way!

The BCT provides access to nature to over 4 million people and touches nearly 40 communities in Eastern Massachusetts. Nature has been proven to have a positive effect on mental health, and I want to highlight this incredible resource available to so many people.

Why do you find getting outside to be crucial to mental health?

I have always been someone that needs to be outside; even as a kid growing up in Newbury, I would spend hours exploring the woods around town. I find the smell of the forests, sounds of the birds, and the ever-changing landscape to be incredibly uplifting.

There are days when I will head into the woods with a lot on my mind and weight on my shoulders, and as I hike along the weight becomes lighter and my thoughts become clearer.

After Ty passed, the time spent in nature was vital to helping me grieve. Studies have shown that spending as little as 5 minutes in a natural setting (away from busy streets and neighborhoods) have a dramatic effect on increasing endorphins and I can attest to that.

Why is it important to you to honor Mental Health Awareness Month?

Ty was truly a Renaissance man. In the morning, he would be blacksmithing, and then he would make homemade pasta for dinner, and at night he would be playing Tom Petty songs on his guitar. We lost an incredible son, brother, grandson, cousin, and friend.

For nearly 10 years, Ty struggled with his depression and anxiety, and as a family we struggled along with him. As parents, in those crisis moments, it is overwhelming, and you feel lost. Mental Awareness Month is important to me because I want people and families to know that they are not alone, and that there are many resources available to help you navigate through the crisis.

Our mission with Dirty Hands Project is to normalize the mental health conversation so people are comfortable speaking up for themselves or others, to find the resources that will benefit them the best.

You’ve completed the Bay Circuit Trail/Hike for Change before. Do you have a favorite memory of your hike last year? Do you have a favorite segment of the trail?

My favorite memory from last year’s hike is watching spring come to life as I hiked along. Starting on the south shore at the end of April, spring was just beginning. There were some faint songs of birds. The fiddleheads and crocus were just blooming. As I turned North, leaving the cranberry bogs behind, the songs became more distinct, and forests became more alive. The cool damp mornings were being replaced by warm sunny
afternoons. By the time I reached the North Shore and the marshes of Newbury and Plum Island, spring was in full bloom and summer was not far away.

Day 22 of the hike is one of my favorite sections. We start out at Appleton Farms in Ipswich and make our way past the cows in the meadow through the grass rides trails into the Pingree Woodlands in South Hamilton. From there we make our way through Bradley Palmer State Park and up Moon Hill and through the Willowdale State Forest. It’s a long hike, but it’s mostly in the forest and there is so much variety to the terrain and scenery.

What led you to collaborate with the Trustees to raise awareness about mental health?

Much like the BCT, the Trustees, and their vast amount of properties, offer so many opportunities to embrace nature. Collaborating with the Trustees made sense as a way to bring our message of embracing nature and spreading mental health awareness.

Too often we get bogged down in our day-to-day lifestyle of being attached to our phones and laptops and it’s important to be able to take a break and get away from those distractions.

The Trustees have been preserving properties across Massachusetts for over a century, so that we can have access to these important cultural and natural settings. Living in North Andover, Weir Hill and Ward Reservation are some of my favorite “close to home” spots to take a break and get outside.

Hike for a Change will pass through Trustees Properties on the following dates:

May 8: End at Shattuck Reservation in Medfield
May 9: Begin at Rocky Narrows in Sherborn
May 20: End at Ward Reservation in Andover
May 21: Begin at Ward Reservation in Andover
May 28: Begin at Appleton Farms in Ipswich