Help Amy Continue Toward Healing

Hi, my name is Maureen and I'm fundraising for my friend Amy. She's one of my closest friends and I love and care about her so much.

 

Over the course of the past few years, Amy has been working hard on recovering from an eating disorder that she has lived with for a long time. Amy recently went back to school at Columbia College in Chicago to study drama therapy. Her goal is to work as a drama or improv therapist to provide tools for healing by sharing her gifts as an artist.

 

Amy recently endured a trauma that set her back in her recovery, and despite remaining committed to her healing and health, this trauma combined with the sustained trauma of living through an ongoing pandemic put her in a critical space with her eating disorder.

 

She was able to admit to Renfrew Florida's Residential Eating Disorder program about 5 weeks ago, and she is making great progress. If you've never been to eating disorder treatment, you might not know that residential treatment is just the stabilization part of recovery. When someone is in a medically unstable place, or their safety is in danger, it's important to receive 24/7 care.

 

Amy will potentially be stepping down to Virtual Partial Hospitalization Program (V-PHP) within the next few days, not because she is fully ready, but because her insurance has decided they're not going to pay for anymore days of residential. Insurance companies dictating the care that someone receives is ludicrous, but America really be like that.

When Amy steps down she will have to leave the environment that has helped her stabilize and return to her home. She is safe at home and supported, but there are a number of things that will be challenging upon her return, including the fact that her level support will move from 24/7 in person care to only 7 hours of virtual programming, Monday through Friday.

Amy's team is recommending that she stay for two more weeks in residential treatment, so she can start to solidify some of the progress she's made while in Florida. 

 

This fundraiser will not cover the cost of her treatment by any means, but it will help her to pay for specialist visits, copays, lab work, and when she gets home, groceries and necessities. We are all deserving of healing. Let's help Amy along as she does this incredibly hard work. Every dollar counts, truly!