The Change.org Mentality

In today’s society, we see a poll or a petition, and we assume that either selecting yes or no, or signing our name is going to make all the difference, and in rare cases, it might. To truly make change happen takes effort and a lot of energy. It takes time, resources, political neutrality in most cases (the ability to work with both sides of the aisle), professionalism, persistence, patience, commitment, and relationships. It is easy to say you believe in something, it is easy to select yes or no, or to sign your name to a petition, but it takes real work to make change happen. We need people that are willing to get out there and work to improve the mental health care system in America.

At least three or four times every week, I receive a message from someone throwing out a great idea about how we can improve our mental health system in Arizona or America. Some of the messages I receive have great ideas. When I respond to the individual and say that is a fantastic idea, have you been able to find an organization that is also passionate about your cause, they say no, and they tell me that they expect The JEM Foundation to pick up the mantle and work on this cause for them. Now, you know that we care about the mental health system in Arizona and our country, that is why we fought so hard for Jake’s Law, but it can’t just be The JEM Foundation, it takes all of us working together to improve society. We have a lot of mental health issues in our country, and it’s going to take real people and real effort to make those changes. If all of us come together, we can move mountains, and we saw that with Jake’s Law. Many said we would never get insurance parity passed in Arizona, well, we got more than just insurance equality passed, we got a mental health omnibus passed! Jake’s Law proves what we can do together, but we need soldiers in the field fighting for improvements to mental health care.

You don’t have to be special, and you don’t need to know people in high places, you don’t need to be an expert in the process, you just need to be committed. When we started, we didn’t know anyone; we just knew there had to be change. We didn’t want any other family to go through what we went through, so we just started contacting our state reps and going to every event and activity that dealt with mental health. We met people and started building relationships. Ben and I are not unique; we didn’t know anyone, nor did we have any money, but we had a desire to make change happen. That desire was fueled by commitment and perseverance. It wasn’t easy, sometimes it took everything we had to keep going, but we knew if we kept fighting eventually, we would make a difference, and we did with a fantastic team of people surrounding us.

Please understand, by stating the change.org mentality, I am not saying that petitions are not useful, they can absolutely be helpful, what I am saying is successful advocacy usually takes more than just signing your name or answering yes or no. It takes real work and real commitment. 

So I ask you, are you going to be the person that signs your name to a petition or answers yes or no, or are you going to be active in the field fighting for change and moving mountains?

To learn more about Jake’s Law click here

To learn more about insurance parity

If you feel you have been denied behavioral health care please visit The Kennedy Forum to file a complaint.