Selena Gomez has been honored with this year’s prestigious Morton E. Ruderman Award for Inclusion.

The Ruderman Family Foundation, which strives to advocate for and advance inclusion for people with disabilities, announced Selena as this year’s honoree on Monday. The foundation highlighted her work in breaking the stigma of mental health and educating people on available resources. 

“I am honored to be the recipient of this year’s Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion. Mental health impacts all of us, and we each have a role to play in ensuring that everyone – regardless of their background – has access to mental health services,” Selena said in a statement.

The singer continued, “I hope by sharing my own story and using my platform, we can empower each other and more young people to address mental health.”

The foundation saluted Selena for her work in raising awareness on mental health, as well as for being so open with her own struggles. They noted sharing her experience with being diagnosed with bipolar disorder helps others feel less alone.

“Mental health is personal for me. Figuring out how to manage my mental health hasn’t always been easy, but it’s something I am constantly working on, and I hope I can help others work on it, too,” the singer shared.

Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, took note of “today’s unprecedented mental health crisis for teens, young adults, and the entire population” as reason why Selena deserved such an honor.

She now joins previous honorees Taraji P. Henson, Michael Phelps and NBA star Kevin Love.
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