TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY - INTRODUCING THE AUTHORS (3) by Dede Ranahan

November 25, 2020 Dede Ranahan

Introducing authors of the 65 stories in Tomorrow Was Yesterday - Explosive First-Person Indictments of the US Mental Health System — Mothers Across the Nation Tell It Like It Is.

This book is now available on Amazon

FROM MAINE
Jeanne Gore: “We Need A Revolution”
Jeanne is a family member and Coordinator and Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for the National Shattering Silence Coalition (NSSC).

Laurie Turley: “They Should Have Let You Help Me. I Wasn’t in My Right Mind.”
Laurie is a musician, music teacher, wife, mother, grandmother and advocate of “treatment before tragedy.”

FROM MARYLAND
Amy Kerr: “I Feel Incredibly Blessed”

Laura Pogliano: “Zac, My Darling Son” & “Let’s Talk About Real Issues"
Laura is a training and education consultant in Baltimore, Maryland. She lost her only son, Zaccaria, to schizophrenia in 2015. Laura is a former board member of SARDAA (Schizophrenia and Related Disorders Alliance of America) and leads the Maryland SARDAA State chapter advocating for reform and the reclassification of schizophrenia to neurology.

FROM MASSACHUSETTS
Mara Briere: “A Problem Shared is a Problem Halved”
Mara is the mother, aunt, daughter, and sister of adults with serious mental illness. She’s a Master’s Level Certified Family Life Educator. She founded a nonprofit for families uprooted by mental illness, Grow A Strong Family, in order to generate, share, and develop the resources, support, and network that families like hers need and do not have.

Donna Erickson: “What I’ve Learned About Our Broken Mental Health System”
Donna is the mother of a son (age 35) who has a serious brain illness. “As a mental health reform activist, I hope to see much needed major changes for our loved ones. We are long overdue for a better mental health system.”

Deborah Harper: “I Feared He’d Be Blown to Pieces”
Deborah is a teacher, mother, and friend. She is a designer and photographer. She is a Christian/Catholic.

FROM MICHIGAN
Sarah C.: “It Feels Like the State of Michigan Wants Me Dead”

Kimberlee Cooper West: “Walk A Mile in Our Shoes”

FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE
Theresa A.: “You Don’t Matter” & “There’s No Limit to What a Mother Will Do”
Theresa has been a preschool teacher for many years. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband.

Ashley Doonan/Cathie Curtis: “I Am Ashley. I Define Me.”
Cathy’s daughter Ashley fought a good fight to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness in academia, the workplace, the correctional system, and society as a whole. Cathie says, “Although she is no longer with us, I am her voice.”

FROM NEW JERSEY
Julia Gillies: “This is Exhausting”
”I’ve been a mental health advocate in New Jersey for 11 years. I read. I research. I witness the suffering of those with mental illness as a loving mother. I send emails, texts, and letters, and make phone calls. Yet, my cries for help often go unheard. Change doesn’t happen until action occurs to help those suffering with SMI. We must wake up, educate others, and be persistent.”

FROM NEW YORK
Tama Bell: “Nightmares in the Daylight” & “10 Myths Mental Health Officials Tell Us About Our Kids”

Laurie Lethbridge Christmas: “What an Effing Nightmare”

Karen Riches: “Our Pledge”
”I’m a mom. My son meant the world to me. Jacob suffered with serious mental illness. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Too bad that my son meant nothing to the medical community. He died because of their beliefs and lack of knowledge about mental illness.”

COMING UP: Mothers from North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.