|
Many families are in need of finding funds or assistance when persons in their family have mental illness, Alzheimer's disease, or dementia. Often families need funds to get their family member into treatment, purchase drugs, or hire respite help. The problem is growing in our community as Ketchikan ages and grows. The project would primarily be set up as a limited access fund. Currently Ketchikan has a fund to assist cancer patients, and this would be very similar, but specific to persons and their families with mental illnesses(broadly defined) Family members often are not able to function effectively at work, often need respite and frequently need financial support for care. Persons will be able to apply for limited funds (to be decided later). Club members will be involved with the fundraising. Because the problems are fairly hidden, with families suffering in silence, I would like to sponsor or cosponsor outings, or activities (such a support fair or event) to open doors for help.
Addendum to Project Description (added after the project was signed)
This project was changed to provide scholarships for children with entrance fees or program costs for extracurricular activities. Many children in Ketchikan are not able to attend sports, music, or other programs such as Girls on the Run, First City Players theater programs, Robotics Club because they are not able to afford the additional fees associated. Our fundraising will provide part of the funds. We will have a named Rotarian acting as the gatekeeper. Funds will be limited to $300 per child and in some cases under special consideration we will fund group activities.
|
