Help Nick Get Treatment

Hi, my name is Rosalia and I am fundraising for my grandson, Nick. Nick (or "Richie," as he is known to some family members) is sixteen years old. He has PTSD, ADHD, Major Depressive Disorder, major addiction, and various other diagnoses. I am trying to get him into treatment for his complex mental health needs.

 

Nick has overcome enormous challenges in his life, including the death of his father, who he watched die. He has also faced continual challenges because our local school system has failed to properly address his learning disabilities, leaving him frustrated and depressed on top of his grief. In the year leading up to the pandemic, when he was thirteen, Nick fell into a depressive spiral and met adult men who met him online who convinced him to do illegal substances.

 

For months afterward, his aunts and I tried to call on the authorities to help protect him, but Nick continued to spiral. He was finally hospitalized in January 2020. After this, we managed to keep him safe and away from the people who were hurting him for a time. But the road has been rocky. He continues to face addiction and major depression. Despite attempts to get him into local therapy, treatment, and school, the pandemic has made things worse. He has been in and out of the hospital, and has begun to use substances again. He was most recently hospitalized in November 2021. Insurance is insisting that he be discharged without any kind of meaningful plan in place to help him catch up on his education, receive mental health supports, or treat his addiction and grief.

 

Without treatment, he will continue to suffer. And we worry that we will not be able to keep him safe and away from the individuals -- many of whom are still walking free -- who have groomed him and introduced him to danger and addiction.

 

His remaining family and I are asking for your help to pay for a program that will start Nick on the path to mental health and addiction recovery. A team of doctors, educational lawyers, and an educational consultant have all determined that Nick needs an intensive treatment program that addresses mental health, education, and addiction, so that he can get back on track. We will have to fund the program ourselves because the school system has once more failed to step up.

 

We are applying for various forms of financial aid, but will need to raise an additional $20,000 within the next two weeks in order to get Nick situated and safe.

 

We ask for your help in meeting this goal. Please help us get Nick into treatment that will let him recover and thrive after years of trauma and depression. We believe that he can do it, and I hope you will partner with us in whatever way you can. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. May God bless you.

 

Rosalia, Cynthia (aunt), Irene (aunt), and all of the family