Dear John, 

My son, Calvin, was a 19-year-old college freshman when he experienced his first psychotic break due to severe mental illness. In the following years, as his life and our family splintered, I sought help from every direction. Treatment Advocacy Center was the first and only place where people finally said, “We get it.”

​​​​​​Devastatingly, my son’s 4-year experience in our broken mental health system ended in his death by suicide at the age of 23. In the horrible aftermath of Calvin’s death, I went from advocating tirelessly for my son to advocating for countless families like ours, and earlier this year, I joined TAC’s staff as a family resource and advocacy manager. 

I was also honored to be chosen as a DJ Jaffe Advocate, a position that pays tribute to the late great DJ Jaffe through innovative, original projects in support of TAC’s mission. Currently, I’m spearheading a project to train families about coping with ambiguous loss, a terrible form of grief experienced by people with SMI and their loved ones.

​​​​​My advocacy work at TAC has given me the scaffolding to keep my own life going and to make my son’s too-short life matter. TAC was a lifeline for me, as it is for so many families with loved ones suffering from SMI. 

I ask you to please donate today to support our work helping families in their darkest and most desperate days.

Your donation will support not only my work guiding families through tremendous day-to-day challenges, but also the critical research and policy work TAC does to ensure that everyone gets the treatment and support they need.

Thank you for your generous donation.

Sincerely,

Jerri Clark
Family Resource and Advocacy Manager

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