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Support 360 parents of children and teens with schizophrenia
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Families of children and teens with schizoaffective disorder lack the appropriate supportive tools
Our family friend Louis passed away after struggling for 3 years with schizoaffective disorder / bipolar type 1. The onset of Louis’ psychosis occurred when he was 19, first hospitalized in October 2014. From childhood through high school, Louis was happy, athletic, musically gifted, made friends easily, and achieved outstanding academic success. He was subsequently hospitalized three more times for durations of several weeks to months.
In March of 2017, Louis once again rejected therapy due to medication side effects along with non-acceptance of his condition, making it nearly impossible to manage. Two months later, in the throes of psychosis, he did not understand the danger posed by the nearby river. It is presumed that he perished on June 4, 2017.
Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic mental health condition characterized primarily by symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations and delusions, and symptoms of mood disorder, either major depressive or bipolar types. It is estimated that schizoaffective disorder is present in about one million people throughout the United States, equally among men and women. So much more needs to be known about the cause(s) of schizoaffective disorder.
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Louis at 7 years old visiting Lake McDonald/Glacier National Park during a ski vacation.
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Louis in Aptos, CA skim boarding in May 2015 prior to 3rd hospitalization.
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Louis after last hospitalization in 2016.
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Louis on last family trip October 2016 at Cannon Beach Oregon.
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The proceeds will help fund the NAMI Basics program
I am raising $9,500 in honor of Louis. 100% of the proceeds will go to the non-profit National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The proceeds will fund the NAMI Basics program. NAMI Basics is a free, 6-week education program for parents and family caregivers of children and teens who are experiencing symptoms of a mental illness or who have already been diagnosed.
My goal is to support parents and caregivers of children and teens afflicted with this disease to get the support to confidently battle the affliction. Please support me in honoring Louis by donating today.
NAMI Basics
By donating you can help a family give the appropriate support to a child or teen
The proceeds will be used to recruit and train 3 teachers as well as continue to grow the NAMI Basics program by providing the tools to 360 family members. NAMI Basics is a free, 6-week education program for parents and family caregivers of children and teens who are experiencing symptoms of a mental illness or who have already been diagnosed.
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64%-NAMI Basics Training Materials
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22%-Training Teachers
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6%-Advertising
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5%-Supplies
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3%-Travel
See how far we've come
Our milestones
Christopher
Derek
Andrew
Mitchell
Samantha
Nathaniel
David
Mariel
+38 MORE MEMBERS
Thank you, CaringCrowd community.
Your pledges will help make change possible.
Created our project
Nov 16
Collected our first 3 pledges
Nov 16
Funded 25% of goal
Nov 16
Funded 50% of goal
Nov 21
Funded 75% of goal
Nov 27
We have reached $7,000, 75% of our goal!
Nov 27
Thanks to all of you 33 backers! The campaign is 75% to its all-or-nothing goal! Please share this campaign with friends and family, so we can reach 100%
Best,
Zach
Zachary Schleien
Project owner
Funded 100% of goal
Dec 2
Funded 100%+ of goal
Dec 2
We did it! We have raised over $9,500, 100% of our goal!
Dec 3
I am so grateful to all of you who donated! We raised over $9,500 for the National Alliance on Mental Illness NAMI in honor of Louis! The money will train 3 teachers and support 360 parents of children and teens with schizophrenia.
Thank you for your support!
Best,
Zach
Zachary Schleien
Project owner
Delivered the check to NAMI!
Jan 21
Hi Backers,
Last week I delivered the check to NAMI, which will be used to fund the Basics Program. These funds will train 3 teachers and directly support 360 parents of children and teens with schizophrenia!
Thank you again for all of your support! I will continue to keep you updated.
Best,
Zach
Zachary Schleien
Project owner
NAMI New Jersey Update
Sep 24
I wanted to give you a brief update on NAMI Basics in NJ.
- On June 21, 2018, 6 families graduated from NAMI Basics en Espanol in New Brunswick.
- NAMI NJis recruiting people to become trained Basics instructors, at a training in September 2018.
- NAMI NJ is in talks with a statewide Basics instructor to begin in-state training, to make it more feasible for New Jersey folks to get certified to teach the course.
- NAMI NJ is collecting resumes and will begin interviewing for a Basics Coordinator in Fall 2018.
Zachary Schleien
Project owner
NAMI Basics Update - CaringCrowd
Jun 3
Due to the funding, NAMI NJ sent 2 people to the NAMI National training on Basics in Reston, VA in April 2019. Being trained by Nationals means that these individuals can now train other people to be Basics teachers. If they teach a class of 10 people (conservatively), that will be 10 additional teachers that can go on to provide classes throughout the state. In each of those classes, NAMI NJ can have up to 20 parents. These 2 state trainers can now impact 200 children in the next 1-2 years alone.
2 state trainers ---> 1 class with 10 participants trained to be Basics Leaders ---> each Basic Leader teaches 2 classes over 2 years ---> between 200-400 student lives affected.
The state trainers are working with NAMI NJ staff to coordinate the first Basics state training in many years. Once the participants have been trained, NAMI NJ will be working with them in their local areas - to partner with local entities who have parents in need of this service.
Zachary Schleien
Project owner