From My Heart to Yours,

Did you know that the global pandemic has caused a dramatic spike in calls to suicide hotlines? The National Alliance on Mental Illness recently reported a 65% jump in hotline calls.

Why this matters?

The call volume has gotten so high that crisis prevention centers are overwhelmed. As one crisis center staff member said, “It’s nerve-racking to know that people are calling us, but we can’t take their call because we’re already on a crisis call with someone else.” A crisis center staff member in Chicago added, “It’s the pressure of having 150 [callers] in the queue, and there’s only four of us [to answer them].”

Our non-profit organization, Stress and Grief Relief Inc., is also experiencing a big spike in calls. As a result, we are increasingly focused on preventative strategies, and self-help solutions that provide people with the resources and support they need before their situation becomes an urgent crisis in need of immediate intervention.

What are we doing?

As many of you know, we just recently published my new book, Near Death Survivor Conquers ALS, Blindness, Depression, Grief, Suicide & More: A Book of Hope, and we are all very excited to see some five-star reviews are already coming in. Thank you very much to all of you who left a review on Amazon—those reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. We continue to send free books to all those in need.

Meanwhile, we have also added a number of new pages to our website, as well as new products to our store. If you have not visited the website in a while, I encourage you to check it out at HopeDr.org Our Saturday prayer group meeting also continues to go strong.

We have one final bit of exciting news to report this month: I was recently approved as a chaplain for counseling at another detention center. We will have more news to report on this front very soon.

How can you help?

Do you have a story to share? With the publication of my most recent book, Near Death Survivor Conquers ALS, Blindness, Depression, Grief, Suicide & More: A Book of Hope, we are currently looking for stories and testimonials to share about how my books or work in this area has helped others. Reviews and testimonials on Amazon, for example, are tremendously helpful in reaching more people with our message of hope. If you have a story to share or would like to review my new book, please either reply to this email with your story, or share your thoughts as a book review on Amazon.

From my heart to yours with love and prayers for special blessings,
—Dr. Joyce