One in five Iowa adults will struggle with mental illness in their lifetime. That’s about 600,000 people every year. We also know that the number of people who seek help with their mental health is drastically lower than these numbers. This is for a variety of reasons: stigma, fear, and financial resources. Though some of these barriers will take time to remove, there is one barrier that we can all play a part in. No one should be refused mental health care because of financial status. This is why I am so passionate about The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center, one of the only places in the metro that offers sliding scale counseling. Their much-needed services are open to anyone, and they work tirelessly to ensure as many people as possible can afford mental health services.
After co-chairing their Women Helping Women event last year, I know how important it is to support this mission. Enter, Jump Rope for Mental Health. On May 8th, my main squeeze Erik and I will be setting up shop at Black Collar Crossfit at 10:15 and jump roping to fundraise for the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center. And we are calling on you to help us out! There are two ways:
Donate to our fundraiser! Our goal is to raise $2000. For every dollar raised, we will do one jump rope. So $2000 = 2000 jumps on the rope. Erik will be doing double under and I will be doing struggle bussing through the basics. And the best twist: it will be in ‘80s garb!
Join in on the jump roping! Join us on May 8th and the jump rope marathon. The more the merrier to support this important initiative! We’d love to have a gaggle of people jumping rope in 80’s gear with us!
Lastly, if you want to learn more about The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center and the great work they do, I encourage you to attend the Women Helping Women event on May 21st. This is a virtual event, and you will hear from wonderful women AND support the organization.