My name is Debb Pitel, wife of 33 years to Kevin and mother to four sons. My journey or life experience hasn’t always had a name. There was feeling overwhelmed, being emotional, there were struggles and at times, it all seemed too much to handle. Not all life lessons are taught; in my case, they were learned through experiences. Countless times, I just needed to talk to someone whom I thought wouldn’t judge me, but instead, I remained silent.
When my son Tyler began to struggle, we knew very quickly we needed help. Back 22 years ago, resources were called agencies. The stigma was strong in asking for help and STILL IS. Asking for help was interpreted as weak but there we were, doing our best to fight to navigate the resources. This was long before the internet expanded as we know today. Finding answers were difficult, time consuming and added stress to a difficult time. Abruptly our search ended when Tyler died by suicide on August 6th 2001, two months before his 15th birthday.
After 10 years of grieving this loss while trying to continue my roles as mother and wife, I became an advocate for mental health. I was learning, listening, fundraising, and supporting all I could while desperate to change my reality. On October 6th, 2020 I published my book, I’m Still Your Mom, dedicated to my son Tyler on what would have been his 34th birthday. Proceeds from the sale of this book go towards supporting mental health initiatives.
After 12 years of being involved in supporting mental health and then writing a book, the same question haunted me every day. Where do people go when they need help? When people asked me for help, I still had no quick answer of where to send them. We don’t always get 2 or 3 chances to help, support and guide. There is still a lot of stigma around asking for help for one’s struggles; this is called “mental health”. People tend to Google the symptom, not the help. There was no guide to services available, UNTIL NOW.
I’ve known for 20 years there needed to be a guide to support, help, and share resources, and now there is one. No waiting for phone or online supports. No judgment. From infancy to elderly – NO ONE STANDS ALONE!
This passage is what our first booklets had as the introduction.
Here we are 22 years since Tyler’s passing and 3 years with No One Stands Alone . Two versions of the booklet, Lambton and Chatham Kent, over 100,000 copies distributed since 2020 – ALL through donations and sponsorship. What is troublesome is the increase for support has almost tripled.
What was 1-7 is now 1-4 people searching for resources. Cost of printing has also doubled and the need for support has never been greater to meet the requests for booklets every week. We update, verify resources quarterly to ensure accuracy, which requires us to print several versions.
Please see these messages who have shared the booklet and seen the results
Hello! I wanted to tell you I am new to Chatham since last September and your booklet “No One Stands Alone” sits on my coffee table and will not leave! Thank you for making this booklet; it has helped me and my family access services in a new area, which without this resource, would have been overwhelming. Just want you to know that you are seen, heard and your hard work and dedication is paying off!
Hi Debb! Guess what? I saw one of your No One Stands Alone booklets in a patient’s room today on the inpatient mental health unit. I said to the PT that I knew you. They asked me to pass along to you that this has really helped them.
We need your help, we need your support so that we can continue to print and expand our coverage to serve our community. You can help us by donating to our cause.
If you would like to be added into our booklet as a sponsor please contact me for more information or watch this short video for more information.