Thank you for your consideration.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to connect with
Elizabeth Errico, Executive Director, at 914-517-0064 or elizabeth@cmhrc.org
or Jana Cupp, Development Director, at jana@cmhrc.org
When we discovered CMHRC, our family was in constant crisis. It felt like nothing was truly helping our child, and we were running out of options. Doctors and specialists seemed to have given up on us, prescribing more sedatives and spouting platitudes about parenting better. We were even considering out-of-state care for our 11-year-old. We were burnt out, scared, and heartbroken. CMHRC became our beacon of light on that dark journey. Their experts and volunteers, who truly understood from experience, connected us with the right treatment, empowered our doctors with vital clinical insights, helped us advocate for appropriate school support, and wrapped us in a supportive community. Today, we’re living again, full of hope for our child’s incredible future. – A Grateful CMHRC Member
Our Mission
Children’s Mental Health Resource Center (CMHRC) leads the way by offering comprehensive programs and services for families and mental healthcare practitioners. Our mission is to ensure early identification and effective management of mood disorders, bipolar disorder, and its newly recognized phenotype known as ‘Fear of Harm’ (FOH). Our focus is to help families navigate the complex and often opaque mental healthcare system and to gain access to accurate diagnoses and effective treatment plans as quickly as possible. We achieve this by leveraging technology that fosters purposeful collaboration among families, educators, mental health experts, and medical professionals.
Critical Gaps in Mental Health
The need for CMHRC is critical and evident, driven by alarming national mental health statistics. Research sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reveals that an astonishing 50% of mental illness begins before age 14, but treatment onset delay averages a staggering 10 years, underscoring the pressing need for timely support. The prevalence of mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders is striking, with nearly one in seven children aged 2 to 8 years, and as many as one in five children and adolescents aged 9 to 17 years, facing diagnosable psychiatric disorders. Despite this demand, not a single state in the country possesses an adequate supply of child psychiatrists, and 43 states are experiencing a severe shortage.
Effective Solutions that Scale
CMHRC’s innovative and scalable model of interconnected programs shepherds families through the painful and confusing process of pursuing an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment plan in this challenging environment beset with obstacles. Our commitment includes steadfast long-term support for parents, caregivers, and practitioners. CMHRC offers an array of resources including symptom and medication tracking tools, K-12 school assistance, community support, and more. We stand unwaveringly by families navigating the challenging landscape of mental health.
Community-Led Impact
CMHRC is committed to being led by and for families living with mental illness; from our board, to our staff, to our volunteers we represent this lived experience. CMHRC is actively seeking philanthropic collaborations with visionary individuals and institutions who truly appreciate the reality of the lived experiences of children, adolescents, and families navigating the challenges of mental illness. Please explore our transformative programs and discover how your leadership and investments could reshape the landscape of children’s mental health for a brighter future full of hope.
Thank You!
Impactful Giving Opportunities
Support our ‘Comfort Kit’ to Help Children Find Hope for $25,000
When a child faces the daunting journey of mood disorders, bipolar disorder, or the newly identified FOH, they need more than just medical explanations. They need hope. Your $25,000 gift can help us create a ‘kid’s comfort kit.’ It includes custom designed age-appropriate books that demystify these disorders and practical tools to manage symptoms. Together, we can offer children a beacon of hope. (Read more.)
Support our Public Awareness Campaign for $20,000
Together, we can reshape how society perceives childhood mood disorders. Your $20,000 gift fuels our multi-year campaign, amplifying our message of hope and understanding. Join us in sparking a global movement. (Read more.)
Help 5 Families Access High-Touch Expert Services for $16,250
Our high-touch services change lives. With $16,250, you can provide five families with a year of comprehensive support. Let’s make comprehensive mental healthcare a reality for everyone. (Read more.)
Provide 3-Year Membership Grants to Families for $12,000
Help us bridge gaps for families and practitioners navigating mental illness. Your $12,000 donation provides 20 families and healthcare practitioners with three-year grants to access our signature membership programs. Together, we can strengthen our communities. (Read more.)
Sponsor a ‘Palliative Parenting’ Course for $10,000
Our ‘Palliative Parenting’ digital courses help families and practitioners thrive amidst mental illness. Your $10,000 sponsorship supports a course for 10 parents and 10 professionals. Together, we can foster resilience and well-being within our communities. (Read more.)
Plant Seeds of Change: Give $1,000+
Your gift to the Seeds of Change Impact Fund empowers all our programs and services. Whether it’s high-touch services, transformative courses, or public awareness campaigns, your support is vital. Join us in sowing the seeds of hope and change. (Read more.)
This may not sound like much to most people, but we’re just so proud of our 15 year old son for being able to stay away from home for the first time. He has Bipolar and Fear of Harm and his early life was just filled with horrible nightmares, sleeplessness, anxiety, and so much irritability all the time! But once we found the people of CMHRC, everything changed for the better.
A few short years ago our son would have been too consumed by his symptoms to ever feel safe enough to spend a night away from us. But this spring he went away with his school and classmates on a 4 day wilderness canoeing trip! He prepared for the trip, managed his medications while he was away, and spent those days thriving instead of being held back by his disorder.
For so long all we did was worry about a future that seemed so uncertain. Now we see great things ahead for him! He’s come so far and we’re so proud of him. We’re also incredibly grateful to CMHRC for giving us hope and showing him and our family the road to recovery.
-Grateful Parents in the CMHRC Community
More Project Information
Children’s Books & Comfort Kit
Two gifts of $25,000 each to create our first kit
The diagnosis of early onset mood disorders, bipolar disorder, or its newly identified phenotype known as ‘FOH’ is a scary one for children. It often follows a series of traumatizing challenges with family, school, and medical professionals. Children grapple with fear rooted in the chaos of symptoms, their unpredictable emotions, and the nightmares triggered by disrupted sleep patterns. Plus, medical and educational professionals often talk with and give explanations to parents, but not to the child.
In response, CMHRC is committed to developing a ‘kid’s comfort kit.’ This innovative kit includes a book series for ages 6-16, designed to demystify these disorders and validate the child’s experience. It also incorporates practical tools to manage symptoms and comforting items that foster feelings of safety and hope for the child.
Our goal is to raise $50,000 in the first year to fund production of comprehensive age appropriate books on mood disorders and bipolar disorder, catering to varying age groups: 6-9, 10-13, and 14-17. Conservative estimates indicate that over a million children may be living with bipolar disorder and millions more with mood disorders. This initiative seeks to deliver essential information and solace, offering children a beacon of hope in their journey to understanding and lifelong management of their conditions.
Changing the Narrative: A Public Awareness Campaign
Three gifts of $20,000 each to launch the campaign
CMHRC is steadfast in its vision to revolutionize children’s mental health outcomes. This transformation envisions a world where every child facing a mood disorder receives timely and compassionate support, steering their trajectory towards brighter futures. Our public awareness campaign will address the persistent stigma and misconceptions surrounding children’s mood disorders and reshape perceptions. Our goal is to raise $60,000 to initiate a multi-year campaign, amplifying our message of awareness, understanding, and support. Our strategy entails orchestrating a robust public awareness campaign through strategic mediums such as targeted earned media, amplifying our message by collaborating with like-minded organizations, and strategically recruiting experts voices from our field to bolster our advocacy endeavors.
High-Touch Expert Services
$16,250 provides five families with full access to programs and services for a year
CMHRC’s high-touch expert services are delivered by experienced professional clinicians, ensuring individuals receive comprehensive care such as diagnostic consultation, K-12 school support, community education, and treatment transition guidance that is unparalleled while keeping costs below market rates. From connecting with the cub scout leader, to facilitating therapist engagements, and attending IEP meetings, we ensure a seamless network of care while meeting families where they are. With each gift of $16,250, we will be able to provide five more families with access to all of our programs and services for a year. The success of this program transcends mere numbers. It paves the way for a world where comprehensive mental healthcare is a reality for everyone.
Nurturing Families & Empowering Practitioners
$12,000 provides 20 three-year grants for participation
Navigating the complexities of mental illness is a journey often marked by isolation for families and challenges for providers. To bridge these gaps, CMHRC introduces two transformative membership programs. CMHRC’s Family Membership Program offers families a community of support where they can connect with and be understood by other families experiencing the same challenges. CMHRC’s Professional Membership Program offers mental healthcare providers and schools protected spaces where they can ask questions, gain new insight, and learn about the unique presentation of mental illness in childhood.
Both programs extend access to private groups, exclusive educational resources, enlightening videos, best practice insights, and our innovative Toolkit app. In the inaugural year, we welcomed 110 members. However, the modest current membership fees present a hurdle for families facing financial constraints due to medical expenses or restricted employment options. Similarly, new practitioners in the field lack resources for professional development amidst substantial student debt. Our goal is to raise the funds needed to provide a minimum of 100 families and healthcare practitioners with a three year grant.
‘Palliative Parenting’ Courses for Families & Mental Health Providers
$10,000 funds courses for 10 parents and 10 professionals
At CMHRC, our distinctive ‘Palliative Parenting’ approach was developed through a collaboration among mental health professionals, parents, and adult patients who intimately understand the journey of not only surviving but thriving with mental illness. Our transformative ‘Palliative Parenting’ digital courses for families and mental health providers span 8 weeks, and draw from a wealth of personal experience and interdisciplinary professional expertise to deliver an enriching curriculum.
Each course, thoughtfully designed for a cohort of 10 participants, unfolds as a dynamic blend of face-to-face virtual class time, on-demand educational materials and videos, expert facilitated discussions, and actionable strategies. In intimate, live, online group meetings, participants delve into various facets of the ‘Palliative Parenting’ model — cultivating acceptance, nurturing respect, fostering community, and enhancing overall quality of life. This course goes beyond the basics by exploring novel treatments and non-pharmaceutical lifestyle interventions, providing immediate home-based solutions with minimal risk and maximal benefits, including metabolic interventions, thermoregulation, and sleep hygiene. Our goal is to raise the funds necessary to enable us to expand our impact through ten separate 8-week courses each year, fostering resilience and well-being within our communities.
Seeds of Change Impact Fund
$1,000+
From our high-touch expert services, to our transformational membership programs, and to our game-changing ‘Palliative Parenting’ Courses that equip families and mental health providers with actionable strategies — gifts to the Seeds of Change Impact Fund provide essential financial resources to all of the programs and services offered by CMHRC.
CMHRC strategically leverages technology to engage nimbly across North America and beyond, in communities that are often overlooked. To date, our programs have included families, providers, and schools in all 50 US states and in 12 countries worldwide. CMHRC is expanding rapidly and developing new ways to meet the specific needs of our community. Our pioneering model is scalable with low overhead costs. Investments in our entire organization through general operating support fuel our growth and allow us to deliver support, answers, and hope to more children and families.