Help Support Living Well With Schizophrenia

Hello and welcome! We’ll get straight to the point: We need your support. In the past year alone over 3.3 million people have used the Living Well with Schizophrenia YouTube channel as a free resource to help themselves or a family member living with this illness. We depend on the support of our audience to create this valuable resource, but 99.95% of our viewers don’t give support or just aren’t able to give support. If you have benefited from the content we’ve created and you’re able to help support this resource, please donate today. We’re so grateful for your support. Thank you for helping us to keep this channel going.

Our Story

Schizophrenia affects over 24 million people worldwide, but resources are severely lacking for this population. When Lauren was first experiencing symptoms, one of the first places she turned to learn more was YouTube. Unfortunately, there wasn't much information available then, especially when it came to hearing from people with lived experience.

When we started the Living Well with Schizophrenia YouTube channel, we aimed to create a few short videos that would fill this gap. Lauren decided to share vulnerably about her own experiences living with the illness to help others feel less alone.

Now, four years after starting the channel, it’s grown larger than we had ever imagined. We’ve felt tremendous pressure and motivation to keep responding to the needs of our audience, and we take the responsibility of serving those needs very seriously.

Why We’re Asking For Your Support

We've been fortunate to have an audience that supports us through Patreon. Without them, the channel wouldn't be what it is today. However, while we're incredibly grateful for this support, it's not enough to sustain our work on the channel. We also understand that a monthly subscription model may not be the best option for everyone, and that a one-time donation might be preferred, which is why we're having this GoFundMe.

In addition to Patreon, we also have advertising on our videos where possible, which provides some assistance. However, we don't generate much revenue through advertising. We also recognize the significance of creating specific videos (such as expert interviews) that may not have mass appeal or generate much ad revenue, but are highly valuable to our core audience.

Funding the production of our channel and covering basic costs has been a challenge. Occasionally, we partner with brands that we believe in and that provide value to our audience for sponsored content. Nevertheless, our options are limited, and this takes up a lot of time that could be better spent creating new content and resources.

In the mental health space, most advocates are funded by pharmaceutical companies. However, we continue to avoid accepting direct funding as we feel it could create a conflict of interest.

How Your Donation Will Help

Many people may not realize that this YouTube channel is our full-time job. It requires a significant amount of time and energy to continue creating the content and resources we're building. Additionally, there are costs associated with maintaining and operating the equipment necessary to produce high-quality content for our audience. Your donation helps ensure that we can pay our bills, feed our family, and keep a roof over our heads so we can continue doing this work!

We also manage a large online peer support community for schizophrenia. Our community provides a welcoming space where people can share their experiences and connect with others facing similar challenges. We offer multiple weekly live online peer support groups that connect individuals from all over the world. Our peer support facilitators, who have lived experience with schizophrenia, are compensated for their work. We would love to increase the frequency of these groups to serve even more people.

If making a monetary donation is not possible for you at this time, don't worry. You can still support this GoFundMe campaign by sharing it with your family and friends.

Additionally, please note that supporting us with a monthly subscription donation through Patreon is an option. By subscribing to our Patreon, you can also gain access to our online peer support community. (Note: If the monthly donation requirement is a barrier for joining our online peer support community, please let us know. We are able to offer compassionate access thanks to the support of fundraising efforts like this!)

https://www.patreon.com/livingwellwithschizophrenia

A Special Request!

If you are able to donate, you'll find there is an option to also share some words of support. We would love to hear from you about how the channel has touched your life. Thank you in advance for your generosity, for your supportive words of encouragement, and for sharing a bit of your own story.

Message from Lauren & Rob:

We appreciate your support!

We have seen the significant impact our channel and community have had on the lives of those living with schizophrenia and related psychosis spectrum illnesses and their loved ones. We want to keep expanding that impact, reaching more people, and improving the resources we can provide.

Thank you for believing in us. We’re so grateful for your support.

Warm regards,

Lauren & Rob (Creators of Living Well with Schizophrenia)