“IF WE TALK, THINGS GET BETTER”
On a visit to Powell’s bookshop last summer, my wife picked up John Moe’s book, The Hilarious World of Depression. Within a few moments of looking at it, she (and I must say shockingly with a great deal of confidence given that she had not read the book herself) thrust it into my hands and said, “YOU should read this! “And so, I did! I find it remarkable that not only did that brief moment lead me to the gift of reading John’s moving “memoir and [his] illness’s biography,” it also resulted in John becoming our keynote speaker at our benefit luncheon and a lifelong friend of Children’s Center. Every one of us at the luncheon was moved and inspired by his words. If you missed the luncheon, I strongly recommend you read his book and/or listen to his podcast. There were some pages in John’s book that were not easy to read; but not talking about difficult issues will not bring us any closer to solving them. On the contrary, as John reminds us, “If we talk, things get better, and more people we love might stick around so we can love them more.” Please let’s all keep talking about the mental health issues in our community, so we can help change and save more lives.
Matthew Butte, Executive Director
In This Issue
Meet Jessica and Gary Simon – Our Champions in the Spotlight
How You Can Become a Champion of Hope
Children’s Center Staff Speak on Trauma Informed Care at National Conference
Speaker John Moe Tackles Tough Topic with Humor at Annual Benefit Luncheon