MAY 13 • 2021 | 21

I

t was the brainchild of a 
9-year-old boy.
When Avery Schwartz of 
Commerce, who attends Hillel 
Day School, wanted to give his 
Nana Margaret Garvin a hug, he 
created a “Hug Buddy.
” 
Since Avery couldn’t hug Nana 
in person because of pandemic 
distancing, he instead created a 
two-dimensional “hug” figure 
that was drawn on paper and 
mailed to Nana, who was moving 
to Traverse City.
For Avery’s father, Glen 
Schwartz, co-owner of the West 
Bloomfield-based mental health 
clinic Viewpoint Psychology & 
Wellness, his son’s creation was 
a way for people to connect at 
a time when many families had 
become disconnected due to 
social distancing. Avery’s “hug” 
drawing soon became a Hug 
Buddy, and Hug Buddy turned 
into the mascot for “Viewspire.
”
Viewspire aims to do exactly as 
its name says: to inspire through 
views. It’s a platform developed 
by Schwartz and Viewpoint 
Psychology & Wellness child 
psychologist Nikki O’Donnell, 
in collaboration with 9-year-old 
Avery, to help decrease stig-
ma against mental illness and 
encourage people to ask for help 
when needed.
Just launched in early April, 
Viewspire includes clothing, art 
and other items that promote 
acceptance and healing. It’s also 
the outlet where people can create 
and send their own Hug Buddies, 
just like Avery sent to his Nana. 
“There’s a need for an 
approach to mental health 
that’s accessible and friend-
ly,” O’Donnell, 39, says. “
An 
approach that’s not clinical.”
O’Donnell says that the con-
cept for Viewspire had been 
in the works for about a year. 
Previously, the mental health 
practice was creating calming 
jars. These jars could be shak-
en alongside special breathing 

techniques that were designed to 
reduce anxiety and stress. Avery’s 
Hug Buddy, she says, was the 
missing piece of the puzzle that 
pulled the concept for a positive 
mental health platform together. 

BOY’S EFFORTS
Avery’s small act of kindness 
turned into a movement. Glen 
Schwartz says his son devoted 
all his spare time to make Hug 
Buddies available to everyone. 
Avery created a Pinterest board, 
spent hours working on graph-
ic design programs and told 
everyone that he knew — from 
friends, to family, to even his 
principal at Hillel — about his 
idea for Hug Buddies. 

As his father and O’Donnell 
worked on building Viewspire, 
Hug Buddy grew to be the face 
of the platform. Now, with 
the launch of the site officially 
underway, Hug Buddies can be 
sent by anyone, anywhere via 
postcards that cost $2. Each post-
card also comes with the option 
to make a nominal donation 
toward mental health causes.
“It’s a new way of viewing 
mental health,
” Glen Schwartz 
says. “It puts a really positive spin 
on it.
”
While the adults manage 
Viewspire inventory — which 
they say they’ve had an over-
whelming response for since its 
recent launching — Avery, along 

with O’Donnell’s son, 
8-year-old Zane, 
hand-color each Hug 
Buddy that goes out 
by mail.
“If you know some-
body in your class is being 
bullied, or you have a relative 
in the hospital, or you just miss 
someone because you haven’t 
been engaged in the community 
for a while, you’ll be able to send 
these Hug Buddy postcards,
” 
Glen Schwartz says.
Hug Buddies are the perfect 
connection to Viewspire, he says, 
because they also inspire people 
through views (or in this case, 
hugs). Many of the images used 
in Viewspire’s products are creat-
ed by patients, including pictures 
of birds and flowers. 
“One of [O’Donnell’s] patients 
actually created a bird one day 
in session,
” Schwartz describes. 
“It was his way of expressing 
himself.
”
After the patient was able to 
convey his feelings through the 
drawing of the bird, Schwartz 
says the patient began to devel-
op a more positive mindset. It 
was a key motivating factor for 
Viewspire, but the only thing 
missing was a mascot. 
“I was driving home one day 
with Avery,
” Schwartz recalls, 
“and he said, ‘How come we’re 
not using my Hug Buddy?’”
The lightbulb turned on. 
“I sent the picture of the Hug 
Buddy to O’Donnell,
” Schwartz 
continues, “and within 10 min-
utes, she digitized it and she was 
like, ‘This is it! It’s totally it.
’”
Yet it’s only the beginning for 
Viewspire and its Hug Buddy 
mascot. “Our dream is that this 
goes into a brand where the Hug 
Buddy is the recognized symbol 
for positive viewing of mental 
health,
” O’Donnell says. “It shifts 
the whole experience of how we 
view it and ask for help.
” 

To see more, visit shopviewspire.com.

Hug Buddies

A 9-year-old’s “hug” drawing
aims to inspire love and healing.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Avery Schwartz, 9, 
is the creator of 
the Hug Buddy.

with O’Donnell’s son, 

Buddy that goes out 
by mail.

body in your class is being 

bullied, or you have a relative 

in the hospital, or you just miss 

body in your class is being 

bullied, or you have a relative 

