Our Vision for 2019
In 2019, Playing to Live’s (PTL) vision encompasses four main goals: (1) continued dedication to refugee support services, (2) increase advocacy and research, (3) open the door to make a local impact, and (4) achieve key overhead support. In order to achieve these goals, we are actively seeking grants and year-end contributions from individuals and corporations.
Donations can be completed in two ways, individuals and/or corporations are encouraged to either adopt a project that aligns with their passion for philanthropy or select a contribution tier and support work across all goals. Additional information regarding goals and contribution levels is included below.
Playing to Live looks forward to working with you to identify the area of support that is best for you. Thank you for your consideration in joining the cause to support the mental health needs of vulnerable populations at home and globally.
Donations can be completed in two ways, individuals and/or corporations are encouraged to either adopt a project that aligns with their passion for philanthropy or select a contribution tier and support work across all goals. Additional information regarding goals and contribution levels is included below.
Playing to Live looks forward to working with you to identify the area of support that is best for you. Thank you for your consideration in joining the cause to support the mental health needs of vulnerable populations at home and globally.
Playing to Live's 2019 Goals
Goal 1: Continued Dedication to Refugees Support Services
Background
In 2017, PTL received an international grant to perform a large-scale mental health and psychosocial support needs and resource assessment for children and adolescent refugees in Uganda’s refugee settlements. This project was in response to the unprecedented South Sudanese refugee crisis that spiked in 2016 and continues today. Following eight months of dedicated research and fieldwork, our team produced an extensive report at the end of 2017. To this day, this report is used as a foundational resource by U.N agencies, international non-profits, and the Ugandan government.
From this seminal report, a program proposal was developed to meet gaps in care services highlighted in the report. Due to our strong ties and collaboration with key agencies within the crisis, we have partnered with the leading local mental health non-profit, Transcultural Psychosocial Organization- Uganda (TPO) to build and advocate for a 6-month pilot program to address the dire mental health needs of frontline staff.
In 2018, PTL and TPO presented this work to United Nation agencies and key organizations. Following the initial meetings, UNHCR invited us to present this proposal to a meeting of high-level officials, government representatives, and large international organizations. The response from every meeting has been overwhelmingly positive. Each meeting resulted in unparalleled support and urgency for the need to support the champions working day and night for children and families. Local and refugee front line staff makes up over 80% of the refugee response, but research has shown that there is little to no mental health support for them and their levels of trauma and burn out are extraordinarily high. Every meeting confirmed these facts, and key officials stated that no program has been created to address this important need in Uganda.
Call to Action
In 2018, alongside our partner TPO, PTL has created a 6-month pilot program proposal and budget amounting to $131,700 USD. The program would be developed and implemented for over 140 frontline staff. Within this program, staff would receive ongoing mental health support through the collaboration of TPO and PTL. Despite the urgency and agreed upon need, the UNHCR and additional key organizations stated that the budget would be difficult to support due to an already decreased humanitarian response budget and current lack of funding for services deemed vital such as water, sanitation, and food. Though conversations on budget are still continuing, we have come to realize it is up to us to secure this budget through grants, donations, and campaigns. Our 2019 budget for this innovative is $131,700.
In 2017, PTL received an international grant to perform a large-scale mental health and psychosocial support needs and resource assessment for children and adolescent refugees in Uganda’s refugee settlements. This project was in response to the unprecedented South Sudanese refugee crisis that spiked in 2016 and continues today. Following eight months of dedicated research and fieldwork, our team produced an extensive report at the end of 2017. To this day, this report is used as a foundational resource by U.N agencies, international non-profits, and the Ugandan government.
From this seminal report, a program proposal was developed to meet gaps in care services highlighted in the report. Due to our strong ties and collaboration with key agencies within the crisis, we have partnered with the leading local mental health non-profit, Transcultural Psychosocial Organization- Uganda (TPO) to build and advocate for a 6-month pilot program to address the dire mental health needs of frontline staff.
In 2018, PTL and TPO presented this work to United Nation agencies and key organizations. Following the initial meetings, UNHCR invited us to present this proposal to a meeting of high-level officials, government representatives, and large international organizations. The response from every meeting has been overwhelmingly positive. Each meeting resulted in unparalleled support and urgency for the need to support the champions working day and night for children and families. Local and refugee front line staff makes up over 80% of the refugee response, but research has shown that there is little to no mental health support for them and their levels of trauma and burn out are extraordinarily high. Every meeting confirmed these facts, and key officials stated that no program has been created to address this important need in Uganda.
Call to Action
In 2018, alongside our partner TPO, PTL has created a 6-month pilot program proposal and budget amounting to $131,700 USD. The program would be developed and implemented for over 140 frontline staff. Within this program, staff would receive ongoing mental health support through the collaboration of TPO and PTL. Despite the urgency and agreed upon need, the UNHCR and additional key organizations stated that the budget would be difficult to support due to an already decreased humanitarian response budget and current lack of funding for services deemed vital such as water, sanitation, and food. Though conversations on budget are still continuing, we have come to realize it is up to us to secure this budget through grants, donations, and campaigns. Our 2019 budget for this innovative is $131,700.
Goal 2: Increase Advocacy and Research
Background
We believe that our work is innovative, effective, and sustainable. We hold value in sharing our lessons learned, research, and challenges with the global community so that our work can become a foundation from which many leaders and innovators can build from. We know that alone we cannot fill in the global mental health support gap but we have dedicated our work to adding our voice to the community of mental health leaders at home and globally. From 2014 until 2018, we have published numerous articles and research papers on our work that have been used and accessed all over the world; we are currently in the process submitting additional research articles for publication to share our work further. In addition, we present and attend national and global conferences focused on art therapy, child life, mental health, public health, and global health. During these conferences, we network with peer organizations to collaborate, grow, and share our work to increase overall impact.
Call to Action
We believe that materials and trainings should be shared to ensure that support services to some of the most vulnerable populations are increased. In 2019, we seek to create key manuals that can be used by communities and organizations across the globe to support increased mental health services for children, families, and frontline staff facing trauma and adversity. Our 2019 budget for this initiative is $35,300.
We believe that our work is innovative, effective, and sustainable. We hold value in sharing our lessons learned, research, and challenges with the global community so that our work can become a foundation from which many leaders and innovators can build from. We know that alone we cannot fill in the global mental health support gap but we have dedicated our work to adding our voice to the community of mental health leaders at home and globally. From 2014 until 2018, we have published numerous articles and research papers on our work that have been used and accessed all over the world; we are currently in the process submitting additional research articles for publication to share our work further. In addition, we present and attend national and global conferences focused on art therapy, child life, mental health, public health, and global health. During these conferences, we network with peer organizations to collaborate, grow, and share our work to increase overall impact.
Call to Action
We believe that materials and trainings should be shared to ensure that support services to some of the most vulnerable populations are increased. In 2019, we seek to create key manuals that can be used by communities and organizations across the globe to support increased mental health services for children, families, and frontline staff facing trauma and adversity. Our 2019 budget for this initiative is $35,300.
Goal 3: Opening the Door to Making a Local Impact
Background
In America, 1 in 7 children aged 2-8 and 1 in 5 children aged 9-17 have a developed diagnosable psychiatric disorder. Yet, reports show that not a single state have sufficient mental health resources; 43 states are labelled as having severe shortages (Milbank, 2017). These serious mental health illnesses costs our country an average of $193.2 billion in lost earnings (NAMI, 2018). These statistics are unacceptable, yet sobering. They are our reality in America today.
In addition to our global work with Playing to Live, we have remained active clinicians in our individual work. What we see is children being brought to us once they have reached a critical mental health illness. We know through our work with Playing to Live, research, and through our clinical knowledge, that early interventions makes a profound impact on preventing the development of mental health illnesses.
We are stepping up and bringing the lessons we have learned overseas back home. We have connected to numerous local organizations within the East Coast of the United States, who have excitedly opened their doors to partnership conversations and program collaboration. These organizations have face-to-face time with children and families experiencing high stress but low resources. These organizations have created trust with the communities they serve, and they are champions in positivity and support. Yet, they feel they have limits to their knowledge and skill with children who have behavior and emotional challenges, with a high relation to trauma at their home and community. In 2018, we secured our first local partner, where we are currently providing expert oversight to an after school program.
Call to Action
Similar to our experience globally, the organizations we have spoken to tell us that they believe our collaborative work could fill in a dire gap that has been left unaddressed, but they have limited monetary resources that create a major issue in moving forward. Our focus is to support organizations working in low resource communities, which inherently means their budget is tight and very limited. Our vision is that we can provide expert consultancy services for little to no costs to a minimum of five organizations in 2019, but in order to do so we need to reach our budget goal for this initiative. Our 2019 budget for this initiative is $105,900.
In America, 1 in 7 children aged 2-8 and 1 in 5 children aged 9-17 have a developed diagnosable psychiatric disorder. Yet, reports show that not a single state have sufficient mental health resources; 43 states are labelled as having severe shortages (Milbank, 2017). These serious mental health illnesses costs our country an average of $193.2 billion in lost earnings (NAMI, 2018). These statistics are unacceptable, yet sobering. They are our reality in America today.
In addition to our global work with Playing to Live, we have remained active clinicians in our individual work. What we see is children being brought to us once they have reached a critical mental health illness. We know through our work with Playing to Live, research, and through our clinical knowledge, that early interventions makes a profound impact on preventing the development of mental health illnesses.
We are stepping up and bringing the lessons we have learned overseas back home. We have connected to numerous local organizations within the East Coast of the United States, who have excitedly opened their doors to partnership conversations and program collaboration. These organizations have face-to-face time with children and families experiencing high stress but low resources. These organizations have created trust with the communities they serve, and they are champions in positivity and support. Yet, they feel they have limits to their knowledge and skill with children who have behavior and emotional challenges, with a high relation to trauma at their home and community. In 2018, we secured our first local partner, where we are currently providing expert oversight to an after school program.
Call to Action
Similar to our experience globally, the organizations we have spoken to tell us that they believe our collaborative work could fill in a dire gap that has been left unaddressed, but they have limited monetary resources that create a major issue in moving forward. Our focus is to support organizations working in low resource communities, which inherently means their budget is tight and very limited. Our vision is that we can provide expert consultancy services for little to no costs to a minimum of five organizations in 2019, but in order to do so we need to reach our budget goal for this initiative. Our 2019 budget for this initiative is $105,900.
Goal 4: Achieve Key Overhead Support
Background
Since 2014, PTL has been dedicated to providing low-cost services to children and communities in vital need. We are committed to making sure that every dollar counts. We strive for limited overhead across all of our work, so that your donation makes largest impact. We do this by partnering with already established organizations, where our focus is to build within and not in silo. The overhead expenses help support the day to day operations to ensure that we can continue to develop and provide services to our partners; these include but are not limited to website, legal fees, grant writing, fundraising, office expenses, and travel.
Call to Action
Our 2019 organization overhead budget is $27,100.
Since 2014, PTL has been dedicated to providing low-cost services to children and communities in vital need. We are committed to making sure that every dollar counts. We strive for limited overhead across all of our work, so that your donation makes largest impact. We do this by partnering with already established organizations, where our focus is to build within and not in silo. The overhead expenses help support the day to day operations to ensure that we can continue to develop and provide services to our partners; these include but are not limited to website, legal fees, grant writing, fundraising, office expenses, and travel.
Call to Action
Our 2019 organization overhead budget is $27,100.