2015 is coming to a close and we are contemplating the very good and humble days of our small beginnings! To our faithful partners, THANK YOU! To our new friends, WELCOME!
Just a quick recap:
April we launched into the community...
May we became an official 501(c)3 Non-profit organization...
Summer was spent beginning dialogue with community and state leadership...
September we launched a small army of prayer partners...
...and added Isaac and Alexis onto our team as interns...
November I (Deborah) attended a dinner/mixer in Baltimore with other parent advocates for the seriously mentally ill as well as doctors and researchers from Johns Hopkins Hospital. I also attended a symposium on Schizophrenia the next day at Johns Hopkins. Still reveling over this...
And just in case you are reading this and don't know who we are, let me introduce you...
(left to right) Our son, and inspiration, Matthew (my husband and co-founder), Isaac (our youngest son) and Alexis.
...and hello! Me with our sweet son...(for some reason, my husband and I can't seem to get our pictures taken together!)...
Our hearts continue to grow for men who have severe and persistent mental illness and our faith has not dimmed in the least for this Project. We can only attribute that to God's leading and we are in awe of His provision and heart for the weak.
Although I am the visible voice for this cause, my husband is the one behind the scenes keeping everything on track and assuring me of our mission on a daily basis. Just to let you in on a small window of my husband's heart, several evenings ago he saw a homeless mentally ill man at a convenience store in our city (this is not an unusual occurrence for him).
This night he came home and grabbed a sleeping bag. After calling the police to do a well check, he drove back to the store and tried to speak with the man. He could not ascertain contact information from him as he was very symptomatic, but the man did allow my husband to wrap him in the warm sleeping bag.
I only share this to show that the need is substantial, this man is someone's son. According to
Treatment Advocacy Center, there are approximately 10 times more mentally ill people in prisons than in our state hospitals. Arizona ranks 49th in the nation for amount of psychiatric beds per capita. The waiting list for housing for the seriously mentally ill hovers around 5,000.
There are several ways to you can help us right now: If you haven't already, please consider joining us in prayer this coming year. Our goal is to open a private home for men with severe & persistent mental illness. Your prayers to that end would be most welcomed and appreciated.
There are two ways you can give while you shop:
Fry's grocery store and
Amazon Smile. Details in links.
Also, you can donate directly if you would like to give before year's end. Links are
included here.(**Please note: website is a down for a few days, check back soon).
You may also mail checks to us directly here: P82 Project Restoration, Inc., P.O. Box 20144, Mesa, AZ 85215
Again, thank you. I would not even be sitting here writing this today if it were not for many of you who have joined us in honoring God's call, his very heart in Psalm 82...
stupendous
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