Changes

Greetings to our members and the community at large! 2022 was quite a remarkable year for achievements and change in our organization.  Let’s take a quick look back at some of our achievements from last year.  In 2022, we… 

• Fully transitioned to online meetings, now with participants from 16 states nationwide 
• Built a complete presentation library of content including all 101 topics that presenters can use and customize, greatly reducing the burden to a speaker.  In parallel, the Program Committee also revised and updated 100% of the Changes resource documents.   
• Designed and shipped new, consolidated brochures and event flags 
• Built and deployed a new website with an enhanced members-only section 
• Participated in high-profile outreach events targeting professionals, including Utah Valley University Mental Health Fair and the Sky Valley Mental Health Fair and Family Fun Day (Monroe, WA) 
• Increased our presence on LinkedIn, where we communicate with professionals working in fields aligned with our mission
• Trained 988 Mental Health hotline operators in WA and UT about Changes and how we can help parents
• Added social events such as the NAMI Walk (Kirkland, WA) and saw the return of our annual members’ picnic, which had record-setting attendance 
• Shifted our free cash to a green investment fund to increase ROI and reduce future fundraising needs 
• Achieved our fundraising goals, thanks to the continued generosity of our members 

As we look at 2023 and beyond, you can expect us to  

• Continue existing outreach events and add additional events as opportunities arise 
• Sponsor periodic “special events” with outside speakers that will be open to the general public 
• Forge deeper collaborative alliances with aligned organizations such as NAMI, Dads MOVE, and  PEPS (via their Adolescent and Teens Program) 
• Create and place our first-ever advertisement for Changes that will run on Hulu and Social Media, narrowly targeting parents in active crisis with their teenage or adult children
• Collaborate with aligned organizations to create Changes info and content suitable for deployment on corporate internal HR sites, to ensure their employees are aware of parent-facing resources and to reduce the stigma associated with having an acting-out child 
• Influence and help deploy the Parent Toolkit as part of the WA State 988 initiative, which will include Changes as a non-emergency resource 

           – Changes Board President