“As we reach the end of the year, we want to reflect on what matters. We want to make a difference.”
A soldier returning home with post-traumatic stress disorder. A new mother struggling with post-partum anxiety. A senior facing a long winter alone, isolated in a house where family and friends have dwindled into memories. A depression that lingers around the edges of everyday life, a constant danger to the health and safety of its victims. Mental health crises come in many different forms and can strike at many different stages of life.
You can make a big difference in the lives of our friends and neighbors living with mental illness by supporting Mental Health America of Fredericksburg (MHAF).
Every dollar donated is used to help local people in need. Here’s how MHAF helps:
- MHAF’s HelpLine is the only mental health information and referral service in our region connecting over 400 callers monthly with the resources they need.
- Our Senior Visitors program provides isolated elderly citizens with free, weekly in-home visits by trained volunteers who offer companionship and supportive services so they can remain independent in their own home environment.
- Our teen Suicide Prevention Education program reached over 3,000 local high school students in its pilot year and with enough support will be expanded throughout the region.
- Our programs help people stay well and productive through support groups, education, advocacy, and peer to peer reinforcement.
We need your help to keep up this good work. MHAF receives no federal or state funding. Through diligent stewardship, we are able to use 93 cents of every dollar received to actually help people in our community with mental health needs.
- $50 will give 5 Helpline callers needed mental health resources.
- $250 will provide suicide prevention education to 20 teens.
- $500 will help 10 isolated seniors not be lonely during the holidays.
Your gift is tax-deductible. Please consider donating online during this season. The MHAF Board and staff, on behalf of the people we serve, thank you for your continued support. Together we can fight the good fight against these insidious diseases that are suffered in silence by so many.
With appreciation and best wishes for the holiday season,
Rita Girard