The Battle of Mental Illness: Help Us Save a Life!

THEIR STORY

We are the Chasers soccer team.  Most of us have played together for over 25 years and consider ourselves family.  Our dear friend and teammate, Kelly, and her husband Charles, have spent the last nine years fighting with every ounce of their being to keep their precious, now 22-year old daughter, alive and to do whatever they can to help her find peace in her life.  She suffers from severe depression and has attempted to take her own life three times — most recently, this past November. After her last attempt, she said she felt very different than before. This time she wasn’t angry that she had failed. Instead, she has committed to getting herself in a better state of mental health and is currently a patient at a crisis stabilization unit at a local psychiatric hospital.  We are all praying that she will win this fight.



THE COST

Aside from the obvious emotional stress one has to endure when a loved one is struggling with depression, there is also a great financial burden.  Over the years Kelly and Charles have tapped into as many mental health services as they have been able to find, most of which have not been covered by insurance. The direct medical costs over the last nine years have exceeded $450,000!  Despite working full-time and taking on numerous side jobs, they have had to give up their home. This fall, Kelly took an extended leave of absence from her job so she could be at home to support and watch over her daughter.

Once their daughter gets released from the hospital, she will begin a treatment plan that will have an out-of-pocket cost of at least $1,000 per week.  Costs for 2019 are expected to exceed $50,000. The doctors require payment at the time of service, while the insurance companies take months or even years to reimburse, if at all.  And, sadly, many providers don’t even accept insurance.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Kelly is the most giving and caring person we know.  Several years ago, they took in a teenage boy who had been abandoned by his family and who has since become like a son to them.  They helped another young man get through high school and guided him through the college application process. Even with all that her family is going through, she takes the time to ask us how our families are doing and she wouldn’t hesitate to help any one of us with any problem we might have.    We have been doing our best to offer emotional support, but now realize that may not be enough as their bills continue to mount. We decided to setup this gofundme campaign to raise money to help offset the extraordinary cost of fighting mental illness over the years and the future cost of care as they start their new journey down the road to recovery (fingers crossed!)

We would deeply appreciate any amount that you are able to give. Your gift will go a long way to helping our friends stay afloat and enable them to focus on their daughter and not be further stressed by the ever growing cost of her care.

All of the funds raised will be sent directly to Kelly and Charles as the beneficiaries of this campaign.

Please help us get the word out by sharing our link with your family and friends. Feel free to post the link on your Facebook Timeline, and other social media platforms.

With much gratitude,

The Chasers