Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Bring Change 2 Mind teams up with "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" to provide a home to vet with PTSD

I'm not a big fan of reality shows. But "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" is one of the better ones. It's less about strange behavior and more about helping people. Producers select a deserving family and builds a new one or fully renovates the old one on camera. EMHE brings in its own team of designers and builders and enlists an array of local contractors. It has a green slant, with lots of effort to use alternative energy sources and recycled materials. The show's host is the energetic Ty Pennington. Watching the show, I imagined that Ty was a hyperactive kid who drove his family and teachers crazy. He's his own alternative energy source.

The next EMHE is co-sponsored by one of my favorite orgs, Bring Change 2 Mind. Its goal is to remove the stigma of mental illness. BC2M has a video, directed by Ron Howard, that shows a crowd in a subway station (Grand Central?). One man wears a white T-shirt that reads "Post Traumatic Street Disorder" and he's accompanied by his "Battle Buddy." A woman wears a "Depression" T-shirt and is hugged by her "Better Half." Glenn Close, "Sister," poses with her real sister, "Bipolar." The video ends with the labels disappearing from the T-shirts and people going about their business.

Glenn partners up with Pennington and company on the most recent EMHE project, this one for a veteran with PTSD and his family.

There's no bigger mental health issue now than the challenges faced by our returning veterans. That includes PTSD.

Marion Mealing sends this from the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health:
This Friday, November 4 at 8 p.m. (ET) “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” is featuring an organization about which I feel strongly: Bring Change 2 Mind. 
Bring Change 2 Mind is an organization dedicated to fighting the stigma of mental illness, and providing information and support to those living with mental illness.  Bring Change 2 Mind has been a partner with the National Federation in the fight against mental health stigma.

The two-hour show will take you through how Extreme Makeover Home Edition built a home that better meets the needs of Allen, who is living with PTSD, , his wife Gina, their children, Makale and Dreyson, and their dog Frankie. Throughout the episode, Glenn Close (Bring Change 2 Mind's founder) talks about the organization and their mission.

Will you join me and tune in for what promises to be a heartwarming story?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How about we stop sending GIs in to war zones so we no longer create vets with PTSD?

--n.