Our founder

Grace Dunlap

"I never wanted to enter this sphere. It's dark, it's painful, it's heartbreaking. But my life isn't my own — and I know a God who is ready to unleash complete healing for His children."

The short version

Grace Dunlap is the founder of SoulSafe Collective. She spent over a decade in what she describes as a grave she dug for herself — familiar with depression, familiar with anxiety, and eventually deep inside suicidal ideation that became a suicide attempt.

She was not on the margins of church life when it happened. She was serving on multiple teams, giving thirty to forty hours a week of volunteer time while holding a full-time job. And when she finally opened up to the people she believed were her closest friends, mentors, and support system, she watched them pull away one by one.

Eventually a church did come alongside her — and that is the hinge the entire organisation turns on. She learned to experience God as her healer. She got free. And she came out of it with a question she could not put down: what if that had been the normal response instead of the rare one?

The burden

Why she does this work anyway.

Grace is candid that this is not a calling she went looking for.

It is a ministry built entirely on speaking against the spirit of death, and it requires her to keep walking into the exact space that has hurt her most. She still lives with her own mental health — she was diagnosed with bipolar II in 2026 and has spoken openly about how much that reframed the work rather than disqualifying her from it.

Her conviction is simple and hard to argue with: the gap in the Church is not a lack of care, it is a lack of education. If leaders truly understood how much these things cost the people in their pews, and if someone had handed them the training, most of them would have leaned in years ago.

"As a suicide attempt survivor, I am living proof that God can redeem. I didn't have the resources or support I needed from the church when I needed them most. That is exactly why this nonprofit exists." Grace Dunlap

SoulSafe Collective was born out of Generation Distinct's untitled_ gathering, where Grace first pitched the vision publicly — terrified, convinced it was too big and that nobody would get behind it — and won the Pitch Room. She has been building it ever since.

Background

What she brings to it.

Theology

Associate Degree in Theology (Honors) from Portland Bible College, and years on church staff and volunteer teams — she knows what the inside of this actually feels like.

Leadership & training

A decade in client relations and sales leadership, where she designed onboarding curriculum, wrote operating procedures, and coached teams through hard conversations.

Lived experience

A survivor building the resource she needed and could not find — with mental health professionals advising the curriculum so that lived experience is never the only input.

Get in touch

Grace would like to hear about your church.

Whether you are ready to certify, curious about the curriculum, exploring a partnership, or wanting her to speak — start the conversation.

Email Grace Request a consultation