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Women’s Fund The Women’s Fund
The Women s Fund The Women’s
nd The Women’s Fund The Women
e
March 2015
Women’s Fund to Explore
Mental Health Services Advocacy
N
oting a critical gap
between mental
health services
and needs in our region, the
Women’s Fund has decided to
examine the impact this disparity makes on women and girls,
and to look for solutions.
The mental health
initiative marks a new
stage in the evolution
of the Women’s Fund.
“We want to get a better
understanding of the extent of
the problem,” says Dr. Camelia
Lawrence, a breast surgeon with
United Health Services and
member of the Women’s Fund’s
Leadership Committee. Once
the Women’s Fund and other
partners have mapped out the
issues, they can determine what
needs to be done.
The new advocacy initiative got started after Lawrence
told the Leadership Committee
about mental health issues she
has observed in her medical
practice. Some of the women
who come to her for breast care,
she says, can’t get the mental
health services they need.
A woman might simply have
no one to renew a prescription
for an anti-depressant or other
medication, due to service cuts
that have left her without any
mental health care provider.
Or the problem might be
more extreme. Sometimes a
woman arrives at Lawrence’s
office showing symptoms of
mental illness so severe, she
can’t give informed consent for
her scheduled procedure.
If a patient poses a danger
to herself or others, Lawrence’s
staff can call 911 and have
police transport the woman to
the emergency room. But for
a patient who doesn’t fit that
continued on page 2
Women’s
Natalie Thompson, Chair
Whitney Beal, Vice Chair
Sharon Ball
Jennifer Bastian
Karen Bearsch
Linda Biemer
The Women’s Fund
520 Columbia Drive, Suite 100
IT’S TIME TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT!
2015 Women’s Fund Annual Breakfast
Mark your calendar and claim your spot at the
10th Anniversary of the Women’s Fund Annual
Breakfast, Friday June 5, 2015 at the Binghamton
Club. Don’t wait! This is always a popular event,
and seats go fast.
Our keynote speaker will be Judith Pipher, professor of
physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester and
an inductee in the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Taking
a cue from Rosie the Riveter, Pipher will explore the slogan
“We Can Do It!” She will discuss the Hall of Fame, its inductees and her own work on infrared
astronomy, celebrating the myriad ways in which women make an impact on the world.
Pipher earned her B.Sc. from the University of Toronto in 1962 and her Ph.D. from
Cornell University in 1971. She joined the University of Rochester in 1971 and served as
director of its C.E.K. Mees Observatory from 1979 to 1994. Pipher’s primary research focuses
on infrared astronomy and infrared detector array development. Her group is currently working
on technology for NEOCam, a NASA-funded telescope and camera that will survey potentiallyhazardous asteroids and comets passing near Earth.
Guests will also hear about the difference the Women’s Fund has made through its
2014 round of grants. And you’ll have a chance to talk with other supporters of the Women’s
Fund—more than 200 people who have joined forces to enhance the lives of women and
girls in our communities.
Thanks to Davidson Fox & Company LLP, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, Levene Gouldin
& Thompson LLP, NBT Bank, and Visions Federal Credit Union, our early bird diamond
sponsors, and additional sponsors: Cushman & Wakefield, Pyramid Brokerage Company,
and Columbia Ridge Capital Management.
Tickets to the program, including a full breakfast, are $35 per person.
June 5, 2015
The Binghamton Club, 83 Front St., Binghamton
Sign-in begins at 7:30 a.m. Breakfast buffet starting at 7:45 a.m.
Call (607) 772-6773 by May 29, 2015 to reserve your seat.
Visa/MC accepted by phone.
Fund
Leadership
Susan Fertig
Kate Fitzgerald, Esq.
Betty Goodwin
Amy Howard
Cory Jacobs
Betsy Koffman
Johnson City, NY 13790
Camelia A. Lawrence, MD
Roberta Melville
Merri Pell-Preus
Jennifer Small
Marcia J. Steinbrecher
(607) 772-6773
www.donorswhocare.org
Leadership Committee
Welcomes New Members
We are pleased to welcome two new members to the Leadership
Committee: Katherine (Kate) Fitzgerald, partner at Hinman
Howard and Kattell and founding donor to the Fund, and Jennifer
Bastian, alumni relations assistant at Binghamton University and
volunteer member of the Special Events Committee in 2014. They
join an engaged,
energetic and
deeply committed
group of local
women dedicated
to improving the
lives of women and
girls in the region.
Kate Fitzgerald
Women’s Fund Salons are a Hot Ticket!
The Women’s Fund is always looking
Liz Rosenberg will discuss her most
for new friends and donors. That’s
recent novel: The Moonlight Palace.
why we sponsor two salons each
The nature of these small-venue events
year, to get out the word about the
makes it difficult to accommodate
wonderful work we do. We hold one
everyone connected to the Fund. So
in Binghamton and the second at a
if you are interested in receiving an
location outside Broome County. Our
e-vite to the next one, please “opt-in”
most recent salon was an inspiring
by sending an email to: dbrown@
evening of discussion, food, drink and
donorswhocare.org and letting us
companionship at the Bohemian Moon
know your interest.
Restaurant in Norwich. At the next,
on Wednesday April 22, 2015 at the
Binghamton Country Club, local author
Jennifer Bastian
Mental Health Services Advocacy
continued from page 1
profile—even one who is seriously ill—there seems to be no
way to get immediate help.
Local mental health practices all have long waiting lists,
Lawrence says. “The last time
we called, it was three or four
months.”
When Lawrence told
her story to the Leadership
Committee last fall, the response was quick and strong.
Members recognized that our
region has cut back on mental
health services, making it hard
to find care. They agreed that
this issue is important, and it
falls well within the Women’s
Fund’s mission to improve and
empower the lives of women
and girls.
In December, an ad hoc
committee of the Women’s
Fund started planning
a course of action.
The first step was to
convene a group
of experts who
understand the
local mental health
landscape.
As this newsletter went
to press, the committee was
preparing to meet on March 5
with a focus group drawn from
the YWCA, the Mental Health
Association, the Broome County
Sheriff’s Department, United
Health Services, Lourdes,
Broome County Mental Health,
Fairview Recovery Services, Rise
(formerly the SOS Shelter) and
the Addiction Center of Broome
County. Assemblywoman
Donna Lupardo also planned
to attend.
Committee members hope
that this discussion will define
the size and severity of the
mental health services gap.
Local experts could also point
to best practices for helping
women and girls with mental
illness, despite the dearth of
providers.
w w w. d o n o r s w h o c a r e . o r g
“We suspect that some
organizations have already
found a way around this issue,
and we’re just not privy to
that,” Lawrence says. “We hope
people will be generous in sharing ideas about what’s working
well to combat the problem, or
tell us what’s not working.”
The mental health initiative marks a new stage in the
evolution of the Women’s
Fund. After more than a dozen
years spent raising money and
making grants, we are eager to
serve in a new way, advocating
for solutions to a problem that
affects many women and girls
in our community.
If you want to get involved
in this effort, please contact
Diane Brown at the Community
Foundation, (607) 772-6773 or
dbrown@donorswhocare.org.