An Important Update on Beyond Blue Foundation

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Dear Readers,

I wanted to give you an update on the Beyond Blue Foundation.

In some ways, the foundation has been wildly successful. Our online communities now number over 13,000 members. Project Beyond Blue holds over 9,200 members and Group Beyond Blue, our Facebook support group, has over 4,100 people. Our Beyond Blue Grants Program is giving away small grants totaling $1K to persons who can’t afford to pursue an alternative treatment for depression. We were mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, AOL, Yahoo, BuzzFeed, MSN, Psych Central, Everyday Health, Huffington Post, and Deseret News.

However, I haven’t been able to raise enough funds or secure a grant for the foundation to work. Unfortunately I’m not at a place in my life where I can continue to devote an unlimited number of uncompensated hours a week to it. After studying all of my options, it became clear that the best way to preserve our signature program, Project Beyond Blue, and ensure it stays a free service, is to find another nonprofit with the technical and administrative infrastructure in place to run it. I feel extremely fortunate to have among my friends and colleagues John Grohol, CEO of Psych Central, the Internet’s largest and oldest independent mental health social network. He has agreed to operate both Project Beyond Blue and Beyond Blue Grants Program under his nonprofit, Pysch Central Community Connection.

I will continue to serve as the “host” of Project Beyond Blue, leading discussions and guiding people there through my writing. As Executive Director, John will handle the larger administrative tasks. Group Beyond Blue will operate independently of the nonprofit.

As John recently said to me, sometimes when we step outside our comfort zone and skill set to try something new, it works. And sometimes it doesn’t. But either way the good that we did, or at least tried to do, isn’t lost. I sincerely hope that is the case with this.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

With gratitude,

Therese

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Therese Borchard
I am a writer and chaplain trying to live a simple life in Annapolis, Maryland.

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15 Responses
  1. Cherlyn Kelly

    Thank you Therese for all you do to help others.

    Your labor has not and will not be in vain.

    God bless and keep you now and always

  2. Leslie Yakkel Brunner

    What you’ve done is awesome and mind boggling! Makes total sense to accept some help so Beyond Blue can continue to grow as intended while allowing YOU to live your own life and take care of yourself and your family. Thanks for following your dream and starting this life-changing organization!!

  3. I completely second what Leslie just said. It only makes sense to let someone else do the admin work, if that’s what will let the project continue in the fashion that best supports the greatest number of people, while remaining true to its mission.

    To paraphrase a great quote, “It is better to have tried and succeeded in at least some way, than never to have tried at all.”

  4. Thank you Therese for all you have done and continue to do for all of us. You should never feel bad for taking care of yourself first. Because if you don’t take care of yourself, you cannot help anyone else. I love GBB and am so happy you started it and BBF. And I am very happy it continues to exist and grow.

  5. Bill Shipp

    Sometimes success is not measured by the longevity of a project or the ability to reach financial benchmarks that one originally sets forth. Sometimes success is measured by the degree of heart one puts into a cause and you have excelled at that. The number of people you have touched with your sincere message of hope and help is beyond commendable. You continue to be a shining light and I am very proud of you!

  6. John Diehl

    Therese,
    You have given so much of yourself for the benefit of so many. You’ve risked and sacrificed much, always selflessly, genuinely, passionately to advocate and serve others.

  7. Thank you for everything you’ve done to help others, Therese, and this change sounds as if it will benefit everyone, including you. I wish you all the best as you continue on your journey!

  8. Linda Jackson

    You have gone above and beyond. Thank you for all you’ve put into this. I hope you have some “compensated” work now!