Mental health app launches headquarters in Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - WhiteFlag, an app made to support those dealing with mental health struggles, decided to make the Grand Strand its home and marked the milestone with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday.

The goal of the app is to provide support for mental health struggles by anonymously connecting users with others facing similar circumstances.

“Two people who understand trauma, who understand issues intimately, once they connect with each other and they share that empathy and you realize that you’re not alone,” CEO Jonny McCoy said.

McCoy said his own mental health struggles showed him the need for connection.

“I realized while I was in treatment that the magic doesn’t necessarily come from just a therapist,” McCoy said. “It doesn’t necessarily come from just a psychiatrist. The magic was coming from the other people in my support groups who had been through similar things.”

McCoy is a Myrtle Beach native. He said he chose Myrtle Beach because of the community and support here.

“You need people who can not only relate to your business but also your journey,” McCoy said. “My home is in Myrtle Beach, the people here know me, they know my story, they know what I went through. This is the town I lived in when my mom went to rehab and my friends took care of me.”

The app currently has over 122,000 downloads and over a million messages sent through the platform.

“It also does something to you where it gives you a little bit of hope to say I think I can get through this,” McCoy said. “This person’s going through it, they’re not giving up. I’m going through it, I’m not gonna give up”

City leaders at the ceremony said they hope WhiteFlag is the first of many tech companies to choose Myrtle Beach for their headquarters.

“We have our first tech company coming to the City of Myrtle Beach,” Councilmember John Krajc said. “How neat and great is it that it’s a mental health technology-based company that can help people with their barriers and the traumas that they’ve faced.”

McCoy said he also hopes it helps de-stigmatize mental health in the community.

“That’s the issue that WhiteFlag solves,” McCoy said. “This ‘I can’t talk about it, people will judge me’.”

McCoy said the company currently has about 10 employees, but he hopes as the company grows to bring hundreds of jobs to the community. The app’s new home is located at Myrtle Beach’s HTC Aspire Hub.

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