We are grateful to receive this heartfelt letter from a former board president of Daemion Counseling Center.
This is a gripping story that reminds us the struggle is real.
Professional, quality help is available and affordable, thanks to Daemion’s commitment to the local community and your generous gift.
Please give now and help us continue to give hope one hour at a time.
I woke to the sound of my oldest brother’s screams. I could feel the despair in his voice as I rushed down the steps to find out what was the commotion. He had found my youngest brother in the backyard. I caught a glimpse of my brother, Neil, and a wave of nausea overcame my body.
There was an eerie haze that lay over the backyard that late July day in 1992. That fog enveloped our family for quite some time. I mean - we were, and are, a close-knit family - so how could this happen to us? How do I explain this to my friends? How do I comfort my father with the loss of his child, a young man just 20-years old?
Thirty years later I still don’t have all the answers, but I do know this: treatment for mental health is just as important as fixing a broken bone or treating heart disease. Mental Health needs to be discussed in the light of day, not shamefully behind closed doors.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. – but mental health is more than that statistic. It is the child so anxious that he or she fears going to middle school; the young adult with depression so severe that he or she can’t make it through a college semester. It is the folks we see in everyday life – struggling.
After my brother passed, a way to ease my pain was to get involved as a volunteer member of the board of directors at Daemion Counseling Center. There I was able to channel some of my emotions into helping others – not as a therapist – but by helping update the organization’s By-Laws, developing an employee handbook, by assisting in the development of a business plan. And, by making a financial contribution. I am proud to be able to say that Daemion has passed its 50th Anniversary. I hope I was a positive part of that journey.
Daemion has wonderful professional leadership and a fantastic group of therapists and interns to provide the quality mental health counseling so desperately needed in our community.
What Daemion doesn’t have is an on-going flow of donors to help continue such an important mission.
Please become a donor today. Be the person that helps a 20-year old live another day.