My name is Rosalie and I'm organizing this fundraiser and will be managing the funds for this fundraiser for one of the sons of long time good friends of my late husband, Scott Hebert and mine. Below is Hunter's story written by his father, Jason. Thank you for considering donating and sharing this to your networks. No amount is too small, every little bit helps! ❤️

Thank you to everyone who is taking time out of your busy lives to read this plea for help for my son Hunter Barton. Hunter is a beautiful 22 year old young man who has been caught up in a hurricane of undiagnosed mental health conditions and unknown traumatic life experiences since he was a young child that led him down a path of self medication. That path sadly, now has Hunter living with an addiction while still being undiagnosed by the community medical and mental health system here in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Those of you who know Hunter, can remember an intelligent, kind, polite, athletic funny young man but you wouldn’t recognize him now. All those beautiful traits are still inside but are trapped behind levels and levels of fear and trauma and we are desperately trying to get him the help he deserves and needs.

My family has spent the better part of the past 5 years trying to get him help, but have had every door to possible help and resources, closed in our faces, for one sad reason or another, “he’s too old for our program”, ‘He’s too young for our program”, “ he has to be clean before entering our program”, “he’s fine, he’s just a drug addict, get him off the drugs and he will be fine”. We have spent every night in terror that either once again we would be forced to call emergency services because he was having an episode, or because we were worried about permanent damage being done to himself.

As a result of the complete lack of support from our medical system in Winnipeg, we have had to make the decision to send Hunter to private treatment as his condition is critical and we can’t wait for a “miracle” any longer, we must create our own “miracle”.

The facility we have chosen for him is an internationally renowned centre that has all the resources, both medical and mental health, to hopefully help stabilize him and give him a chance at a new life. We have no idea how long he will need to be in treatment, could be 2 months, could be a year or longer. My family and I have already spent close to $50,000 just to get him there and for a first month of treatment, but we know we will need much more to help him.

Those of you who know me, know how proud I am to take care of my family and my own problems and rarely ask for help. However currently my pride is useless and as a father, I am begging for your help to save my son. The situation is complicated by the fact that I am currently off work on long term disability working on my own health as well and therefore can’t just run out and find extra jobs to make more money. My family is supporting this as much as they can but obviously this is not something a family typically plans for. I have emptied out my pension and put every dollar I have on the line just for Hunter to have a chance. Please consider donating to Help Hunter! He is a beautiful young man and as every parent wishes, I just want him to have a chance! I am grateful for your consideration and please forward this story on to your entire network if you would be so kind. Blessings to you and your families, hold your loved ones close to you and make sure you stay aware of any challenges in their lives before it becomes too late!