“We have some of the best care for cancer patients…but people with mental health issues are viewed differently and treated differently, and it should never be that way.”

“I’ve had a granddaughter who’s had a problem with drugs. And I wonder, back when she was in seventh or eighth grade when it started, if we’d had places available, and treatments, and people to talk to her, if things might have been different.”

“We’ve got to get to the base of that problem and get that changed. I hope you can find a way to support this important campaign.”

“Providing mental health services for senior citizens in this county is a huge challenge. Because there’s a huge stigma around getting help for mental health issues. And that is probably the number one barrier right now for people getting help.”

“We’re getting phone calls now that might be suicidal, and we don’t have the staff we need to sit next to this phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week—to even be able to service the people who are calling in now.”

“It can be extremely frustrating to have someone say they’re ready for help, but there are no services to help them. You really need to act when they say, “I’m ready to go,” and we’re scrambling to make it happen.”

“The majority of people struggling with substance abuse have an underlying issue of mental illness that’s either never been diagnosed or not correctly treated. And to get our young people in to see a counselor, the waits are long.”

“You could go on for years about all the things she did for us, but it’s the stuff she missed, or we miss her for, or that she hasn’t been here for. Not seeing my graduation. I never expected that.”

“What I miss the most is not so much what we had, but what she’s not here for. We just had twins a year and a half ago, and it’s just wrenching to think that she didn’t get to hold those babies and be the grandma she was going to be.”