From DBSA National:

We are delighted to announce that the Senate and the House negotiators have reached a historic agreement on the Mental Health Parity compromise bill. Since early March, when the Senate passed its own version of the bill, S. 558, the House and Senate have been engaged in intense negotiations to reconcile differences between the two bills. (The House bill, H.R. 1424 – passed in early March).

Now the bill must go for one more, final vote in both chambers and then goes to the President for his signature.

You are all amazing! For many years, you have hung in there for the long haul – the mark of a true advocate. Now we need to rally once more so that the bill is passed quickly in the House and Senate.

Although there is great optimism on the Hill, that passage will occur soon. Let’s not leave anything to chance. Please send a letter to your legislators in both the House and Senate asking them to pass the compromise bill NOW.

DBSA is proud to announce that our online support groups have switched to a new, improved chat platform! After much research and even more testing, we are excited to provide our online support group participants with a clearer, more reliable, and more user-friendly interface.

As a reminder, DBSA’s online support groups offer another excellent opportunity to find hope, help, and supportfor people living with mood disorders, their friends and family. Consider referring your chapter members to these online sessions as an additional source of support when your chapter isn’t meeting. The online groups follow the same format and guidelines as DBSA’s in-person support groups and are facilitated by volunteer peer facilitators.

The online support groups are free, but registration is required. For more information or to register, visit www.DBSAlliance.org/OSG.

What Would You Do?

If you woke up today and found out you won $10,000, what would you do? You’d have so many options that you didn’t have before, and your wish list would probably be endless. Where would you start?

Here at DBSA, we’re asking ourselves the same question, because we did win $10,000 … but there’s a catch! We won a $10,000 challenge grant from the Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation—they will donate this very generous sum to DBSA … but only if you can help us match that amount before this December 31!

Our wish list is a long one, too. There’s so much we want to do to help those living with depression or bipolar disorder take the next step—or the first step—toward recovery:

* Expand the work we’re doing with our country’s military veterans to help transform their war-torn lives.
* Support our online support groups to help those who live too far from their local DBSA group, have limited mobility or simply want to remain anonymous.
* Increase our advocacy efforts in Washington, DC, to promote crucial mental health bills like the postpartum depression legislation.
* Provide more scholarships to the DBSA National Conference so that more people can connect to all of the hope, help and support it offers.
* Expand our peer specialist and provider training, to bring more peers into the mental health workforce and to help clinicians better understand the concepts of recovery-focused, person-centered care.

There are so many people in need of help. We were reminded of that recently, after “Dear Abby” ran a column on June 2 mentioning DBSA support groups. Our phones rang off the hook here in Chicago. The three staff members taking the calls were overwhelmed—both by the number of calls that kept coming and the heartbreaking stories the callers shared with them. They need our help … and we need yours.

Even a few dollars will make a difference. Please help us match the Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation’s compassionate gift by giving to the Ignite the Light matching grant campaign. One good deed deserves another.