$450K Raised for Mental Health Services

By SIERRA DAVIS | Pali Life Editor

Joined by several Palisadians, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services moved a step closer to erasing the stigma of mental illness by honoring several passionate champions of mental health awareness and suicide prevention, including singer/songwriter Mary Lambert, television personality Howie Mandel, NBA New Orleans Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson, former California Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg and his 21-year-old daughter, Jordana Steinberg.

Held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on April 23, the 19th annual Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards drew more than 600 guests, including Palisadians Laura Ornest, Janet Leahy, Kathy and Jason Katims, Joannie and Andy Besser. The event raised more than $450,000 for mental health and substance abuse treatment for people in communities where stigma or poverty limits access.

“Mental illness is devastating for families even when you have financial resources and the best doctors available,” said Ornest, a Didi Hirsch board member. “Imagine what it’s like for people without any resources at all. That’s why I support Didi Hirsch. They provide high-quality mental health care to people who have nowhere else to turn.”

Also recognized throughout the evening were several former and current clients whose lives were transformed after receiving treatment at Didi Hirsch. Clients highlighted in short videos played during the event include a formerly homeless man who is regaining his independence since a Culver City bus driver brought him to the agency to get help; a woman who regained custody of her son after undergoing treatment at a residential center for mothers and young children; another who became an advocate and volunteer at the Suicide Prevention Center following the suicide of her 13-year-old son; and a family who benefitted from counseling designed for military families after a family member returned home from Iraq.

Didi Hirsch’s Suicide Prevention Center helps people at risk of suicide, concerned loved ones and those who have lost someone to suicide. The first in the nation to establish a 24-hour hotline, the Suicide Prevention Center’s crisis counselors answered more than 62,000 calls, chats and texts in 2014.  The Center offers support groups for people who have attempted suicide or are grieving a suicidal loss. Learn more at www.didihirsch.org.