Personal Fundraising
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Erica Stein

  • Hong Kong    Mental Health
Raised So Far HKD 62,827

Erica Stein

Hi friends and fam!

This month I am turning the big 3-0. If you know me, you know how much I love celebrating my birthday. It’s always been the one time of year I could smush together my friends from all corners of my life in a room full of love and gratitude.

This year I want to use my birthday to give back to a three organizations that are helping advance equity and access to mental healthcare: Mind HK, The Mo Fund, The Loveland Foundation.

Why Mental Health Equity?

In June of this year, I had to navigate seeking help from a therapist for the first time since 2016 because of my anxiety, burnout, emotional exhaustion, and panic attacks.

Even though I knew about and often educated others on the challenges to care in Hong Kong (e.g. knowing where to get help, long wait times, cost, lack of insurance coverage), many of these still came as a shock to me as I began to explore my options for the first time, let alone when my mental health was already at a debilitating state. I feel grateful for being able to find a therapist who was the right fit for me with only a two week wait time; the privilege, paycheck, and support system that I have that’s allowed me to see her regularly; and for the growth and ongoing work I’ve done through therapy to-date to recover and be in a place where I am today.

Challenges to Mental Healthcare Access 

Unlike my “success story”, far too many people do not get the treatment that they need. According to a 2015 study in Hong Kong, nearly two-thirds of people experiencing mental illness did *not* seek professional care. There are so many reasons why this may be the case:
  • A lack of education how either physical or psychological symptoms may be representative of a mental illness.
  • The normalization of constant stress and anxiety (company culture, industry culture, Hong Kong culture, etc.).
  • Stigma around seeing a counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist versus a “normal” doctor.
  • Cultural barriers that prohibit honest conversations around how one is doing emotionally or judgment from friends or family to “just get over it” or internalize issues.
  • High costs of treatment, lack of insurance coverage, and inability to pay out of pocket.
…Not to mention discriminatory reasons that don’t just impact a person’s ability to get care, but also perpetuate mental ill health for the way these intersect in a person’s life and identity: medical and institutional racism, ableism, classism, casteism, xenophobia, discrimination based on residency status, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc.

Access to healthcare, and mental healthcare, is a human right. Provided in a timely manner. Provided with dignity. Provided patient-first, not profit-first.

What's the Goal?

My goal is to raise 30,000 HKD ($3,870 USD) for my 30th birthday for these three organizations that play an important part in ensuring others can get the help that they need by working toward eliminating some of the barriers to care mentioned above. More information on these great groups below.

A few incentives for you should you need them:
  • The Stein family will be matching 100% of the funds raised up to 30,000 HKD.
  • Everyone who enters will be entered into a lucky draw — prizes to be announced over the coming month!
  • For anyone who donates, you will be cordially invited to E’s Birthday Mental Health Break Zoom Bash on 23 December at 9:00am HKT / 22 December 8:00pm EDT. What I’m envisioning for the hour together (that is definitely not a webinar): getting to see all of your lovely faces, sharing the story of my mental health journey, learning more about these organizations their efforts to address mental healthcare inequity, then a quick self care wake-up/turn down/turn up session.

Virtual Mental Health Birthday Bash - Zoom Details

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