What is the Charity Circle?
Last autumn one of our consultants came up with the idea to form a circle for doing something different with our collective circle money. Many of us were excited with the idea of doing something for the community, nature or something else for the greater good, and so the story began.
We put together money for 6 months and held a vote for the first target, which ended up being Sekasin247 – chat maintained by MIELI – Suoment Mielenterveys ry. Our vote was unanimous, for multiple reasons, but in part because one our own clients; Sooma Medical.
Sooma is a Finnish company developing a drug-free treatment for chronic pain and Major Depressive Disorder that uses transcranial direct current stimulation to achieve results comparable to drug based treatments. This is a major development in depression treatment, and it has also given relief to youth with symptoms.
A primary motivator for us to donate is the increase in mental health challenges across all population groups, especially the youth segment during COVID-19 pandemic. Current resources are insufficient to sustain the infrastructure for short term help such as the Sekasin247 – chat. The chat room itself is maintained by volunteers and is a low barrier medium for youth to get someone to at least listen to their problems.
-JP
