I would like you all to know how supportive and helpful B.C. Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko and his great team are. My daughter at 16 suffered a major psychotic break, now we are into our fifth year of the healing process and nowhere near recovery.
I have quit my job, three times to stay at home and be on suicide watch. To my surprise, I couldn’t collect unemployment. You can receive money if you are home looking after someone with cancer but not a suicidal mental ill child. I applied to government to get child tax credit (which was denied twice). Having a sick child is very stressful, but what some might not know is getting treatment is very expensive. The year my daughter was hospitalized twice, and saw a doctor twice a month in Kelowna, which is a two hours drive, the cost of just gas and meals was $10,000. This cost is also documented by Dr. Stan Kutcher.
Alex and his team have helped me write letters, showed support by a personal visit to me, listened to me as a cried into the phone with pure frustration, inquired to why I was denied tax credit, gave donations to mental health service groups, and used his own door-to-door paper to create awareness for mental health.
These are examples of personal attention with a great heart; that all people serving our country in the way of politics should be.
Alex you don’t just do the talk, you do the walk. I am proud to say that yesterday I did receive my child tax credit cheque after two years of applying. So thank you very much, without people like you action would never get done. Thank you for making mental health and my family matter to you.
Carrie-Ann Dambrowitz
Osoyoos