My name is Brooke Schmidt, and I’m thrilled to be a summer intern for the Flawless Foundation. Last week Janine told me about a very special advocate for mental health who would happily share her story to help others. I was so inspired that I reached out to get to know her; I dial a Georgia phone number and a woman with a strong Southern drawl answers, “This is Laurie.” This is the woman I’ve been so anxious to talk to.
After the usual cordial greetings, Laurie states that she is a stay at home mother of three, and that she and her youngest son have bipolar disorder. Unashamed and to the point, she eagerly describes the struggles and successes of the last few years, sparing none of the details of the diagnosis, the stigma surrounding mental health, the hours spent in the library, and the creation of her “Birthday Wish” site.
When her son first started testing for bipolar disorder at age three, Laurie, frustrated with the hush-hush atmosphere surrounding mental disorders in the South, took matters into her own hands. Spending hours in the library and online, she researched the disorder, solutions, and support groups. In the process, Laurie came across eerie and startling facts and statistics. “Did you know,” she asks me over the phone, “that there have been over 150 unexplained child deaths in psych hospitals?”
“The school system is afraid of my child,” she adds. “They’re afraid of him. He already feels different…but then the school makes him feel like an outsider.” Recently, her son’s class went to visit the local middle school for orientation. The rest of the children were to walk alone; the school requested that Laurie’s son be “escorted” to the orientation. “What are we going to do? Go to school with him and hold his hand everyday? How can he fit in if he’s constantly, physically made an outsider?” I ask Laurie if she faced similar ostracism when she was in school. “Oh yeah,” she answers. “My teacher used to put me in the middle of the room and put a box over me.”
Such instances motivated Laurie to seek support and to speak out. Throughout her research, she says that one group stood out to her: The Flawless Foundation. “What really drew me to Flawless was the compassion, their focus on the child and the family, and, most importantly, they actually enjoy the kids.”
Inspired by Flawless’ mission, on a particularly trying day for her and her family, Laurie created a “Birthday Wish.” Her Birthday was approaching and, rather than asking her friends to spend money on material gifts, she asked them to donate to the Flawless Foundation through an application on Facebook. Laurie raised nearly $300. This is her second year setting up the “Flawless Foundation Birthday Wish.”
“It’s so nice to know that someone out there is actually doing something. As for me, I just wanted to show people that you CAN make a difference, even from your own home.” When asked what motivates her to speak out for children with mental health disorders, she responds, “Obviously for my son, but also for the little kid in me. I’m just grateful I now have the nerve to put myself out there. If I can help someone – anyone – avoid the hardships my son and I have endured even in the slightest bit, then I’ve achieved my goal.”
**Laurie’s birthday is July 16th – to help grant her birthday wish, please click here.
