Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic is now hosting its 2020 “Walk of Hope” as a VIRTUAL celebration on Saturday, September 26th at 10am. Please join me and my team, AMCCNS School of Nursing, on behalf of this great cause. You will be able to walk with us anywhere — from your own home, local parks, neighborhoods, tracks, hiking trails — safely socially distant of course! Set your own walking goal and pace. 

If you’re not familiar with Carrier Clinic, it is one of the largest independent, non-profit behavioral healthcare facilities in NJ. They specialize in psychiatric and substance abuse treatment. Mental health and addiction funding goes completely overlooked in this country. People with mental illness and substance abuse problems suffer as a result. During my behavioral health rotation last semester, it became evidently clear to me that mental health facilities, inpatient and outpatient, need more support and staff. They’ve shut down so many facilities in NJ that its caused overcrowding in current inpatient facilities and has led to more people being jailed as “treatment” due to limited spaces. Limited spaces means only those whose insurance will cover/can pay out of pocket for the costs will be able to receive help. Limiting availability to mental health services should never be an option!

This year has been extremely tough for everyone. The economic and social impacts of COVID-19 have created a mental health and substance abuse crisis in this country. Places like Carrier Clinic are working with their community to lift the stigma around mental health and pushing for more funding to keep doors open. More funding = more resources, more social workers, more mental health experts, more community service resources, and more healthcare facilities. Funding of mental health services is not a cost, it’s an investment. If we don’t fund prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery support services, then we will only see the problem grow. Which costs more than funding solutions.

So please, if you can, help me and my AMCCNS team of student nurses in fundraising for Carrier Clinic's “Walk of Hope” 2020. Even a $5 donation can make the biggest difference