Help a Fairbanks Queer get mental health help

The last few years have been really shitty, we've lost a lot of very important people in our community, and it's going to be hard to heal and move forward, but there are some bright spots--friends that survived, and this is one of them.

 

Trigger warning: mental health issues, suicide

 

A friend reached out to me this month after making the scary revelation that They are no longer safe to be by themselves, and They are in urgent need of in-patient psychiatric treatment. Asking for someone to intervene because you're worried you're going to harm yourself is incredibly brave, and if you are in crisis, know your loved ones want that phone call, and there is nothing embarrassing about getting help, together is the only way will can survive.

 

Going into in-patient care is not an easy decision to make--not only will They be giving up their rights/freedom for a month, bills will still have to be paid, and the price of medication is "yet to be determined". However, treatment is an option because They have been saving and working several jobs to pay for it, since before the Pandemic. The Pandemic obviously made things worse, but They have survived depression thus far, they made it through several rounds of suicide attempts, and now have been accepted into a good treatment program.

 

This is where you, Allies, Fairbanksans, Alaskans, Parents, Mental Health Advocates, Folks, whoever you are reading this, this is where you come in: without additional funds, They will lose their home, car and the insurance that is making the treatment possible. Quite the catch-22 to getting in-patient treatment, but this is exactly why it's only available to people with extra cash lying around. Mental health care is nearly non-existent in Alaska and it's important that people who need help know they can take it when it's available.

 

So it's kind of a miracle They can go to treatment at all, but the money saved and part that insurance covers still leaves them short, about $3200 short. It's a lot of money, but small amounts add up!

 

If you can spare even $5, that's amazing, but if you can SHARE this as far and wide as possible, we need folks in Fairbanks to know they are loved and important, it's okay to not be okay, and we have your back when you're down <3

**They have wished to remain anonymous due to employment concerns**