Cooper Riis for David

You may see him walking to some unknown destination awkward body posture, strange stare, uncomfortable in his own skin,a stranger in a strange land.He has lived in St. Augustine most of his life. had lots of friends known by many growing up in lighthouse Park I remember when he had relationships. girls thought he was cute. his buddies would come over for night a paintball or manhunt. His teachers would comment on his big heart and what a joy it was to have him in their class. I used to watch him walk to school and one by one the cats in the neighborhood would run to greet him beaconing for a gentle rub on the head. Now all has changed. I've never seen a lonelier person. It breaks my heart every day for him because now he is in the world of the unknown and miss under stood mind disease of schizophrenia I could tell you the story of the onset of this life altering disease but repeating it so many times and answer the questions what happened to Dave is like reliving it over and over.. Our supports are few in our community and now more than ever they are being taken away our priorities are elsewhere funding goes to more important areas of need I guess. personally I've worked with the disabled and families for over 30 years 20 of them locally..taking care of others has been my profession most of my life but it seems I cannot get help for my own son. Knocking on doors asking for help and being told you don't have the right funding or he's non-med compliant is the answer I get he self medicate by going to yoga classes or coffee cafés where he desperately looks to participate and be included in someway but is most often turned away because of his peculiar mannerisms or they feel uncomfortable around him he will go to the stores just to buy an item to feel he is contributing and being apart of them somehow. He is a part of this community but what we all call a normal day and take for granted he doesn't belong in, a life with others a sense of purpose..isolation and misunderstanding are side effects of his disease separation and an unshared life is his prognosis...:/imagine your day and where you live and go is a place called loneliness... I wrote this letter to our Editor in a local paper.. Not much has changed... I'm hoping that I can raise money for David to attend a healing facility in North Carolina called Cooper Riis it's his only hope for life with purpose.. Please look it up on line... It's wonderful it's my only hope!! Please help.. Love David's mom