October 2022 Newsletter
What we planned to do
The Dakota Foundation for Bipolar awareness was created for two purposes. The first was to raise awareness of bipolar as an illness that can be managed with the right treatment and support. The second was to raise funds in support of families and suffers who cannot afford the treatments.
We identified a clinic in Lake Country that treats many mental illnesses including bipolar. Healthy Essentials believes that family involvement is the key to success in managing the illness. But not everyone can afford the help. We planned to fund HEC at least in part
We believe in creating awareness of Bi-Polar in order to reduce the stigma of mental health and help people . We understand that Bi-Polar is a chemical imbalance not a flaw in character; and that Bi-Polar can be managed with proper care and support. We will work Awareness into all our events and media.
What we did.
We created a registered charity and held our first fund raiser at the OK Corral in Kelowna. Over 300 people were in attendance, and they got to hear about bipolar.
We are currently funding the Foundry and program set up by Canadian Mental Health because they have a focus on early detection and have a mobile unit that actually goes to the schools
We are now funding a clinic that believes that Mental Health can be managed. Our foundation Is there to help fund those that do not have the funding available to them for counselling and proper prescription drugs. The more funds we have the more people we can help.
We created a website with tons of information to help suffers and families understand that they are not alone, where to find local help and how to recognise the symptoms.
We have a great deal of printed information to be handed out to interested parties.
We have formed an informal alliance with CMHA, The Foundry and the International Bipolar Association in San Diego.
Next steps.
We have only just begun and we need your help.
The next steps are to raise more money from corporate sponsors. We have a partial list of possible donors.
This will take 6 months or more to happen but we plan to ask for long term (5 year) giving so we can offer stable financing for the clinic and the next generation of recipients.
IN the longer term we will also lobby to have some Privacy laws changed so that practitioners can involve the family in managing bi-polar. This will be a big task , but we will try !!!!