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My longtime friends - my chosen family - are facing one of the scariest situations parents can imagine. Their 16-year-old, Emmitt, recognized that he was in crisis & asked to get help. That part is great & we’re all so glad! Unfortunately, after a days-long stay in the local Emergency Room, when a treatment bed was found, it was over two hours away from their home in Schuylerville, NY. It’s getting expensive for his parents to stay nearby to support him during this difficult time, although insurance is paying for some of the direct medical costs.
Don and Michelle DeGarmo are the most generous people and best parents I know. They offered me a place to live at the lowest time in my life, when I was recently separated and with looming unemployment. I lived with them and their daughter Jessie for almost a year before I was back on my feet. By the time I moved out, we were family. Emmitt was born three years later.
This past year has been hard on many of us. It’s been particularly challenging for Emmitt, who is trans and lives in a rural area where there aren’t many services. He has been struggling, but working with a therapist, prior to this. This is a new level of struggling.
Emmitt is receiving in-patient treatment in Plattsburgh NY. Due to COVID, only one parent is allowed in person visits. Don is “his person.” Each week, Don and Michelle drive hours north and stay in a hotel for several days so Don can see Emmitt during visiting hours. They come home for a few days over the weekend, then do it all over again. Don is a school custodian. He is using his vacation & sick time (and generous coworkers have offered to donate time, if that becomes necessary). Michelle owns a small business. After taking a week off, she has been working remotely part time while up north.
We don’t know how long Emmitt will be in treatment in Plattsburgh. Eventually we expect he’ll be moved to a treatment placement closer to home, once space opens up and he’s ready. Unfortunately due to COVID and being a trans teenager, there is limited availability of treatment placements. (Sadly there are more kids in crisis than we have ability to care for them all.)
I can’t be there physically, the way they were for me – making tea, playing cards to distract from how hard everything is, and offering a safe place to recover. But together we can ease their financial burden.
Don and Michelle DeGarmo are the most generous people and best parents I know. They offered me a place to live at the lowest time in my life, when I was recently separated and with looming unemployment. I lived with them and their daughter Jessie for almost a year before I was back on my feet. By the time I moved out, we were family. Emmitt was born three years later.
This past year has been hard on many of us. It’s been particularly challenging for Emmitt, who is trans and lives in a rural area where there aren’t many services. He has been struggling, but working with a therapist, prior to this. This is a new level of struggling.
Emmitt is receiving in-patient treatment in Plattsburgh NY. Due to COVID, only one parent is allowed in person visits. Don is “his person.” Each week, Don and Michelle drive hours north and stay in a hotel for several days so Don can see Emmitt during visiting hours. They come home for a few days over the weekend, then do it all over again. Don is a school custodian. He is using his vacation & sick time (and generous coworkers have offered to donate time, if that becomes necessary). Michelle owns a small business. After taking a week off, she has been working remotely part time while up north.
We don’t know how long Emmitt will be in treatment in Plattsburgh. Eventually we expect he’ll be moved to a treatment placement closer to home, once space opens up and he’s ready. Unfortunately due to COVID and being a trans teenager, there is limited availability of treatment placements. (Sadly there are more kids in crisis than we have ability to care for them all.)
I can’t be there physically, the way they were for me – making tea, playing cards to distract from how hard everything is, and offering a safe place to recover. But together we can ease their financial burden.