“McLean probably saved our daughter’s life,” says donor Maggie Tyler, a Mary Belknap Society member along with her husband, Lee Rubenstein.
Society members make annual unrestricted gifts of $1,000 or more to McLean. For the couple, supporting the hospital in this way means their money goes to work immediately strengthening clinical services, seeding innovative research, and supporting education and training. “I know organizations where restricted funds sit on the sidelines. We wanted our gifts to have an immediate impact,” explains Tyler.
Rubenstein says there is nothing scarier than having a child struggling with a psychiatric illness, and when their daughter arrived at McLean, the family was in crisis. “The clinicians were calm and provided her with superb care,” he says. “Over time, they gave her the tools to live successfully with her illness. Today, she has graduated from college, lives with her partner in the Northwest, and is a working artist.”
While much has been done recently to reduce the stigma of mental illness, the fact is that when people do ask for help, there are very few treatment facilities like McLean available, adds Rubenstein. “A giant investment needs to be made in McLean and mental healthcare in general.”
Ms. Tyler and Mr. Rubenstein are members of the Mary Belknap Society, McLean’s leadership annual giving program, which recognizes donors who make annual unrestricted gifts to the hospital of $1,000 or more. For more information, contact Kristin Kilbourne at 617.855.3644.
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