i guess in these upcoming days, my last at the agency, it’s important to remember what brought me here in the first place — and it’s a story i’ve shared via email when i first started that some of you may or may not have read.
i’m not sure how many of you know, but i come from a big family of nine brothers and cousins scattered all over the world. to make it a little easier to keep in touch with one another, we started an e-newsletter where we could send updates, birthday greetings, inappropriate jokes — or other news. these emails were usually pretty mundane until suddenly, one of our cousins started sending really offensive emails targeting some of our relatives. her behavior over email became increasingly erratic and grew so unbearable that some family members got into email fights with her or blocked her out completely.
it wasn’t until later that we were told that this cousin actually suffered from schizophrenia. now coming from a relatively liberal, asian american family, i thought we’d be pretty open about sharing news like this, but it just goes to show how stigmatized mental health is. i just imagine how lonely our cousin had felt and that if we had only known sooner or if the right resources were available to her, we could’ve helped her more rather than isolating her as we had done.
when i moved to california, i vowed to work for an organization that did meaningful work. i wasn’t necessarily looking for work in the mental health field, but the agency’s reputation preceded my search. a close friend told me how it played a crucial role in a mutual friend’s recovery and continuing treatment for bipolar disorder. it wasn’t until i started working for the agency, however, did i learn just how amazing its staff is and how each individual is truly dedicated and passionate about the work that s/he is doing.
i can’t praise the staff enough. each one of you comes in here – and we all know it’s not for the money or the recognition, but because each one of you truly believes in doing something to improve the health and lives of our community. i am so grateful to be surrounded by so many compassionate souls and it has been a true joy to work among you.
thank you — from the bottom of my heart.
– a less eloquent, though probably more concise version of my going-away speech from friday’s staff retreat. despite all the struggles, i’m going to miss the crap out of that place.
Will Dao 