Origin story

Founder, Haylin Dennison, LCSW was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. She earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work at the University of Southern California. After the completion of her graduate program in LA, Haylin moved back to Hawaii with a mission to improve mental health access and treatment in her hometown. Haylin has significant experience in program development including the Suicide Prevention Department at the VA Pacific Islands, Hawaii State Judiciary Family Court, and currently for Integrated Health Hawaii, successfully creating and implementing the first engagement-focused care coordination program in Hawaii. Haylin’s work with Integrated Health Hawaii was featured in the May 2022 New England Journal of Medicine. Haylin also co-founded Mindwerks Clinic, focused on postpartum depression, perinatal stress and mood disorders, pregnancy, and the mental wellness of mothers.

Haylin is passionate about this project because she is a mama to 4 beautiful children! Haylin’s eldest child, Mattie, is 14 years old and identifies as non-binary. In Haylin’s effort to support her child, she quickly realized that her child’s private school, extracurricular community, and family physician did not have any resources available to support her child during challenging times. Unfortunately, Haylin was also unable to find any local resources for parents, despite her expertise in the mental health field. One day, Mattie had a great idea to build a teen clinic. Mattie said, "Okay let's do this mom. BUT, it has to be a clinic that is cool and fun…and sells boba. Let’s call it, Spill the Tea Café.”