It’s a big building with patients, but that’s not important right now.
At the beginning of the year, I said you could expect some additions to what we are doing with the LIPF. Well, in a year’s time, we have hosted two events, ran 10 miles through mud and obstacles, rode our bikes over 50 miles through five boroughs. Some of you have even run marathons; others have dedicated door sales to the Foundation. We have won several awards and grants and are nominated for several more. TD Five Boro chose us as an official charity partner, and major corporations recognize the LIPF as a matching not-for-profit partner at companies like AMEX and Google. We are preparing the paperwork and processes to issue our first grant(s) in 2013.
While I don’t have the total numbers, we have raised more than $85K and are quickly tracking towards our first milestone of $100,000.00. I cannot be more pleased with what we have accomplished in a very short period of time.
I await the day when we can talk in the millions—when we can talk about people who have received treatment for their depression and ultimately avoid paying the ultimate price.
Earlier this year, I said that as we matured, we would continue to add resources for those people who are suffering from depression and for friends and families who many times are helpless while someone they love suffers.
Well, I am happy to say that this week, we have a new member of the LIPF team. Her name is Dr. Susan Gray. Susan is a board-certified psychiatrist at Bellevue and a clinical instructor at NYU School of Medicine. She was awarded Chief Resident and an Award for Excellence in Medical Student Training when she was a resident in the psychiatry program at NYU School of Medicine.
In the coming weeks, Susan will be helping us create a new section of the site that will focus on resources for people and their families who suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts.
Susan will also participate in the blog and share with us her thoughts and experience as a practicing psychiatrist.
This is very exciting to me personally. Speaking from experience, I cannot express how challenging it was for me on the outside-looking-in figuring out what to do, how to best support David, and many times understanding what I was going through and how David’s depression was affecting me. Very rarely do we have this level of access to our doctors and the other people who are out there every day trying to help people who are suffering.
This is just the beginning. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The LIPF is going to turn up the volume on the conversation of depression. I will continue to share how David’s suicide has impacted me and what it means to survive suicide. We will continue collectively to share our stories and to show those around us that there is nothing to be ashamed of—there is no reason to hide if you or somebody you know is suffering from depression. We will make a difference.
