HISTORY
The David Dawes Nee II Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that seeks to support and encourage organizations devoted to preventing suicide among adolescents and young adults through diagnosis, treatment, education, and research.
The friends and family of Dave Nee formed The David Dawes Nee II Foundation (the “Foundation”) in 2006 after Dave’s struggle with depression ended with his suicide in June 2005. Dave’s intelligence and intellectual curiosity were extraordinary, and those traits were complemented by his humor, selflessness, and generosity. We hope to emulate these aspects of Dave’s personality in our efforts to combat the disease of depression and prevent further unnecessary loss of life through suicide. In mid-2007, we formed an Advisory Board consisting of esteemed mental health professionals to assist with our cause.
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GRANT RECIPIENTS
We are pleased to provide you with information on our past grant recipients below. As we continue to build the Uncommon Counsel community of programs in the years to come we look forward to growing this list by supporting organizations aimed at preventing suicide in adolescents and young adults.
- In 2009 we provided a grant to FAMILIES FOR DEPRESSION AWARENESS. Families for Depression Awareness is a national nonprofit organization that helps families and friends recognize and cope with depressive disorders to get people well and prevent suicides. The organization provides education, outreach, and advocacy to support families. Families for Depression Awareness is made up of families who have lost a family member to suicide or have watched a loved one suffer with depression, with little knowledge about how to help.
- At the 2009 Benefit Gala, the Foundation was proud to honor the award-winning filmmakers Dana and Hart Perry with the Foundation’s inaugural Ray of Light Award, in recognition of the Perrys’ groundbreaking documentary ‘Boy Interrupted,’ about their son’s death by suicide at age 15.
- In 2008 we expanded our grant program to two organizations. We provided a grant to SPAN USA, an organization dedicated to preventing suicide through public education and awareness, community action and federal, state and local grassroots advocacy. The grant is helping SPAN USA to raise awareness about College Campus Suicide Prevention on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites. The grant will also help SPAN USA to disseminate information about the funds available to college campuses for suicide prevention under the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act (GLSMA).
- Additionally, in 2008 we provided a separate grant to the EMERGENCY MOBILE CRISIS SERVICES program, a division of the Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut that, for over 20 years, has provided immediate mental health assessment and crisis stabilization services, with a special focus on suicide prevention, for children and adolescents experiencing serious psychiatric symptoms and severe reactions to traumatic events.
- In 2007 we provided our annual grant to ACTIVE MINDS, a not-for-profit peer-to-peer organization dedicated to the mental health of college students. Through this grant, Active Minds was able to open thirty new college chapters, start its first high school chapter, develop an internship program and start a new program entitled Send Silence Packing. As part of this program, on April 24, 2008, Active Minds displayed 1,100 backpacks on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., representing the 1,100 college students who die by suicide each year. This powerful display is traveling to different sites around the country.
- In 2006 we provided our inaugural grant to Columbia University’s TEENSCREEN PROGRAM, a national mental health and suicide risk screening program. Our grant permitted TeenScreen to expand its efforts to additional communities, resulting in the establishment of several local TeenScreen programs that then went on to screen thousands of teens. With the help of the Foundation, TeenScreen came ever closer to reaching its goal of making voluntary mental health check-ups available to all American teens.
FUTURE
Our mission is to eliminate the stigma associated with depression and suicide, by promoting and encouraging not only the diagnosis and treatment of depression among adolescents and young adults, but also the education of adolescents and their families about the disease of depression. We believe that a principal reason for the high suicide rate in the United States is a glaring lack of sufficient candid discussion and early treatment for depression. Further, suffering adolescents are not aware of the available options for treatment and recovery. We hope to spread the message that depression and thoughts of harming oneself do not make one “abnormal,” that treatment for depressed and suicidal thoughts is socially acceptable, and that in an overwhelming number of cases, such treatment is a safe, effective way to improve one’s quality of life.
The Foundation has hosted a variety of fundraising events and has used funds raised by these events as grants to other non-profit organizations that dedicate their efforts to the research and treatment of depression and suicide prevention for adolescents. As our working capital has grown, we have focused our efforts on developing Uncommon Counsel, a unique program that seeks to raise awareness of depression and suicide in law schools.