If your child was dying, wouldn’t you do whatever it takes to keep them alive? Makenna has been suffering from mental illness since her junior year in HS. She contemplated suicide in 2018 and was admitted to Denver Springs for 6 days.

Suffering from a physical illness is no different than struggling with a mental illness. When Mak told us she doesn’t want to die but she doesn’t want to live with this pain, that is when we began researching recovery programs. My gut told me that Denver Springs was not the answer. We fell upon Wings Recovery   in San Diego. It was the answer to our prayers. They do holistic therapy as well as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. We are fortunate that our insurance will cover part of her stay. However, since we are both retired, PERA Care will only cover a partial amount. The out-of-pocket cost will be $17,000. We are willing to pay whatever it takes to save our girl.

When we were asked to start a Go Fund Me, our first reaction was that we can deal with this on our own. But then we thought that it was time to end the stigma around mental health. It isn’t so much about raising money, but more about making sure people understand the impact of mental awareness. As a society, we have come a long way, but we have much more work to do.

10% of the amount raised will be donated to https://thesecondwindfund.org to help others suffering from this illness.