Misses cherished granddaughter
Dear editor:
“It is easier to build a child than it is to mend an adult.” – Unknown
Looking back on our experiences trying to get mental health support for our cherished granddaughter, Shelsey, it was a mess of never-ending appointments, reams of paperwork and telling and then retelling her story again and again.
When we finally got to a place where we thought we could find some help for Shelsey, we would be referred to another person and we would start all over again with the paperwork, appointments and stories. We tried for years to get help through mental health.
We were a desperate family, trying to work our way through a system that had more twists and turns and closed doors than anyone could ever imagine.
All the while we were dragging this poor, angry and uncooperative child to yet another appointment.
The waits for an appointment were four to five months. After our sweet girl tried to commit suicide at age 17, she overnighted in the Chilliwack hospital, talked to a psychiatrist and was released the next morning without even a follow-up appointment.
The earliest appointment that she able to get was in three-and-a-half months.
There is a real need for a one-stop place for our youth in crisis. I see a place like the YES project, that is opening in Penticton soon, as a hand to hold onto when things are bleak. Through Foundry Penticton, on the main floor of the youth centre, you will get immediate attention. They will walk you through the process of getting you the help you need at this one location.
We needed this help for our daughter/ granddaughter. Life can be brutal for a family trying to do the best they can to find help for a loved one. I see the youth centre as a way to get yourself and your loved ones through a terrible time.
I love that the centre will be available to 12-24 year olds as well as their families. So many times there is a cut off age at 18. Shelsey was 19 years old. It would have been a salve to have some place to go to when she was in need or just wanted to be around others with the issues most of us deal with at one time or another.
This is a place to just be yourself. No stigma. No judgement.
We lost our cherished granddaughter two years ago at the age of 19. I would have loved for her to have had access to a place that specializes in helping get support and counselling and professional care to get through the pain.
Don and Lenora Robson
Penticton