Short Summary:

"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things.  The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant." ~ The Doctor, Vincent and the Doctor

1 in 5 Americans suffer from a form of mental illness.  While theses illnesses are treatable, there is a massive stigma and prejudice that they encounter especially in the workplace.  There is something that can be done to help these people have a healty, productive and positive work experience.

My name is Leah and I am trying to start at nonprofit organization called Pile of Good Things.  Our goal is to educate employers and employees about mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, learning difficulties in order to create a healthy and positive work environment.  We believe that our jobs should add to our pile of good things.  For people who suffer from mental illness, their employers especially don't understand how their illness can affect their work.  Pile of Good Things was inspired by the quote from Doctor Who after coming out of my own incident of stigma and ignorance from a place of employment.

What We Need & What You Get:

We are going to try to get money for this campaign to fund our paperwork with the IRS and the state to become a legally recognized nonprofit organization.  This includes filing fees for the state and the federal governments totaling approximately $950.  The rest goes to legal and accountant fees.  If we go above our goal then we can start seeking marketing, the toll free phone line and a website to help get the message out to the public.

Since we are a start up it is very difficult, but we are determined to help people who suffer from mental illnesses in regard to the work environment.  Any donation will get a handwritten thank you letter because communication is the key to ending the silence of mental illness.

 

The Impact:

Suffering from depression myself, I know how difficult it is to be functional at a place of employment.  After an incident at my job, I sank into a severe depression, which caused me to be treated differently.  I belief that if people are educated about the signs of mental health conditions, then compassion and understanding will become part of the business world instead of stigma and discrimination.  Education reduces ignorance and fear.  Pile of Good Things will work to mutually help employers and employees with the economic impact from mental health conditions.  We will also help employees with mental health conditions on what to disclose to an employer and how.  We will also assist employees with what to do in case they feel that discrimination has occurred through a confidential phone line and e-mail service.

For employers, we will offer seminars to their managers, supervisors and HR staff on the signs of mental illness and how to help their employees before their illness becomes a problem for themselves and other coworkers.  This training seminar will help employers reduce costs due to mental health issues as well as create an accepting work environment.

 

Other Ways You Can Help:

If you cannot contribute money, please let others know about this campaign.  Depression is the number one reason that people go out on disability.  This causes disruption to employers and the employees have no choice but to go out.  Many people feel weak because of their condition.  Mental illness is not the sufferers fault and they should not be punished for their medical condition.

You can also contact me with ideas or contacts for graphics, merchandise and support at Queendbtm@aol.com with the subject PoGT.