"Every man goes down to his death bearing in his hands only that which he has given away." - Persian Proverb
On Saturday I was speaking with a friend. He said to me that in November there is a fund-raiser for a National Autism Awareness Agency here in Jacksonville. He was a bit upset because his research suggested that none and he stressed none of the money raised in Jacksonville will go to assist folks in Jacksonville. In June a young lady a Canadian citizen living in Seattle Washington was referred to The Last Resort. When I spoke to her I was saddened by her situation. She had a serious eating disorder and alcohol addiction. At the time she was alcohol free for over a month. However, her eating disorder was in full force.
She was homeless, divorced and had no resources. When I asked about her family history I learned that her mother had been murdered when she was young. Unfortunately, I felt that our center would not be the best alternative for her. So I began to ask around for help. I sent an e-mail appeal to my friends and colleagues. I told her that as a last resort (no pun intended) we would accept her and that I would hire an eating disorder therapist for her at our cost.
My appeal received several responses, some “please unsubscribe”, imagine from my personal e-mail asking to be unsubscribed! We had case managers, expediters, therapists, organizations, and people offer help. Some of them had difficulty reading because they asked about her financial situation. To be honest, I was disappointed in the response, but way more disappointed in the results.
We had 5 offers to help, none of them followed through. One of them offered to pay the tuition if we could locate a facility. However the funds were never sent! It was suggested that she return to Canada because their health system would pay. Which eventually she did, I recently learned that she continues to wait on the list for help.
Help us to Help 100 people for as little as $10
We get several calls per month, last week we received 8 calls that finance is an issue. The Last Resort recovery Program was founded to assist the middle market, the folks that make too much to get help and not enough to pay. This market has huge potential for lasting recovery for several reasons.
A while back I received a call at 5 am from the mother of a young man. She asked me if her insurance would cover our tuition. I said yes but it depends on the
insurance company I began to give her the details and noted that we also have a scholarship program for reduced tuition. I could hear the desperation in her voice and then she chimed in, “sir, I am a mother, and my son is dying. We have insurance that we pay for to protect us from serious financial loss. Don’t you know that our children are dying?” She hung up on me. I made several attempts to call her back to no avail. I have researched scholarships and grants and have found that the programs you can find have a wonderful set of ideals but have no true funding. Good people that mean well but much like the folks that responded to my appeal for the young lady, without the resources to truly help.
You Can Help for as Little as $10
So what am I getting at? The first thing I know is that people can be doubtful. So if you do not agree with me, find this self-serving or any other negative issue, please delete this and pray for me.
We can help 100 people or more in a year for as little as a $10 gift from you and our other friends. What I have found is that most people like to help people. Yet we often get caught up in the “I don’t have enough” syndrome. Many fundraising agencies look for the big donors, put on the dinner dances, the golf outings or the walk-a-thons that take up your time or money that you do not have. But a $10 gift, nearly anyone can afford!
Give an individual a fish and he eats for the day, teach them to fish…
Currently we offer partial scholarships to folks. What we would like to do is create a fund that would give 100% scholarships to at least 50% of our guests. Our tuition is low so we can help 100 people with your help all for a $10 gift to us! This is a way to teach people HOW to recover.
Our Gift to You
In October we are rolling out a unique tracking and accountability system that will change the face of Recovery Treatment forever! In addition to us assisting 100 people in our in-home program we will work with 100 more people in our “Recovery at Home” model. This is a recovery enhancement program that does not replace, therapists, 12-step or other self-help programs it is an additional set of disciplines to help assure a lasting recovery.
Our gift to you is a pdf copy of our workbook, our daily dose of recovery newsletter, and access to our recovery accountability program for you or your guests. This is a $200 value to you for your gift of $10.
More importantly, every penny that we receive will go to pay for tuition. We will remain transparent throughout this process. We will have a scholarship barometer on our site with an accounting of funds raised and scholarships utilized.
September is Recovery Month during the month there are eve
nts and programs happening all across the Country touting the success of Recovery! Take some time to find out more about these events and the agencies that sponsor them. If The Last Resort Recovery is not your choice to help us help others, well then please send $10 to one of those agencies! But when you do it, do it with a twist, send a money order and do not use your name.
Thank you
From the bottom of my heart I want to thank you and encourage you to follow through. Additionally, I ask you to forward this message to everyone you know. Make sure when you do that you encourage your friends to read this and to do the same. It only takes a little bit to make a huge impact. Be Impact-Full…
Dan Callahan MSW
Yes Dan, I am an Impact-Full person, here is my gift to the Scholarship fund:
$10 Donations:
I want to contribute more than $10:
Dan I would prefer to mail you our gift to:
Attention: The Last Resort Recovery27499 Riverview Center Boulevard
Suite: 228
Bonita Springs, FL 34134-4313
Please make checks or money orders payable to The Last Resort Recovery. This gift is NOT a tax-deductible gift, The Last Resort Recovery program is a peer-run recovery organization that has not applied for IRS, 501(c) 3 status.
Any other questions feel free to email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
