Medical care bill for Zoe Ellen

I never thought I'd be here asking for help through a GoFundMe, but here I am. I don't particularly like asking for help but the more I've gone through our recent journey as a family the more I have found out that people do want to help and want to support us - we just have to let them in.

So here we are.

In August of this year, the day before her 14th birthday, our baby girl Zoe was admitted to the ER. From there, after 15 hours of waiting for placement, she was admitted to Brentwood where she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Our girl is growing up in a hard time for most teenagers and we find ourselves being a part of today's stats. She struggles like so many with accepting her worth and having confidence in herself.

Time recently wrote a piece on teen girls and how they are facing a mental health epidemic. The CDC released a report earlier this year that found that nearly one in three high school girls considered suicide in 2021, a 60% increase since 2011. In 2017 emergency-room admissions for self-harm among 10- to 14-year-old girls tripled between 2009 and 2015. The numbers have only continued to climb since the pandemic.

Currently, in MS - at our own Trauma 1 medical center (UMMC) there are no beds for children ages 13-17 struggling with mental health. St. Dominics recently shut down its mental health program. So options for teens in MS are limited, to say the least. If we had not been able to get taken in at Brentwood - Zoe's next option would have been a 3-hour ride by ambulance to the next nearest facility for teens. Our girl is not the only kid struggling - my heart breaks for families who have even fewer options.

We have been very fortunate with support and being able to get appointments and set up with great doctors, and counselors, and for her to have received initial care locally. The support from our local church has been immense as I don't know how I as a mom would have made it through the first half of this journey without them coming alongside us and us having our people. But the only way for people to be able to help is to let them in...

Currently, her medical bills have totaled 11,000 out of pocket for her time at Brentwood - and we expect it to grow with upcoming doctor visits with many follow-ups. We are currently needing to raise at least 5,000 as our starting goal.

We need support for her previous care and her long-term care. Since October 4th she has been on academic medical leave from school so she can just focus on herself so when she returns she will be able to deal with the stress that we all know as middle school but we are hopeful that she will be returning soon.

As she is home, we are also currently looking for local classes and ways she can stay engaged and social to continue working on her social skills and building up her confidence.

So how can you help as she learns how to process and cope with hard issues, learning to see herself and accept herself for who she truly is ---AMAZING, and how to deal in a healthy way with the struggles we all face in our daily lives?

For Zoe

They say it takes a village to raise a family and it really does. Through all our trials and struggles in life- the ups and downs- this has been the most challenging and daunting. It's humbling to ask for support and sometimes even filled with shame. But one thing we trust is that we know people love our kiddos and our family. And if they knew we needed help and wanted to give help, well this is one of the ways. it's not the only way but it is a very real, very big need.

Additional articles can be found below if you want to know more about the struggle that so many middle schoolers are facing.

Kids’ mental health is in crisis

Middle Schoolers are hurting now more than ever.

Meeting the Mental Health Challenge in School and at Home