Study of Disabilities: [EDU 1400]
Professor Candida Darling
Working with Letters Against Depression: My Experience
By Kate Rowan
As I am a remote learning student and I live very rural, I was rather limited in my ability to choose a service-learning organization. I attempted to do captioning, but I really struggle with typing, so I chose to investigate another source of need in the world of volunteering. I was extremely excited to find Letter Against Depression, an organization that seemed right up my alley.
Letters Against Depression, or LAD, is a nonprofit, 501c3 charity organization started by a man named Robert P. Mason in 2014. Their website says: “We are an organization that provides hope and support to those battling mental illness through the power of handwritten letters. We have over 5000 volunteers who have written over 30,000 letters that have personally impacted each one of our recipients lives. We have connected people from over 60 countries, being the voice of hope and support for every person of all ages.” You sign up to be a letter writer, and you watch a short video on how to write a letter. Then you look at the portal, where you can find different categories of letters: Initial (the first letter a new person would receive), Full (subsequent letters), Birthdays, Celebrations (events that matter for a letter recipient) and Hugs (fun little add-ons to letters, such a decorated cards, crochet hearts, stickers, etc.)
I chose to write several letters in the initial portal, because they were from people who seemed to really need it. You look in the portal and see the request from each person, with a short story about their needs, what they like and dislike, and where they’re located. You can see when they made the request, and how many other people have written to that person, too. Some of the stories are terribly hard to read. They come from people who are very emotionally challenged and in need of love. They may have severe mental health problems or disabilities, and some express the reasons for their depression. I will admit that some stories were very intense to read, and initially made me feel like there was nothing I could possibly do to help relieve their suffering. LAD also has a Facebook page for their writers, and members post pictures of their letters. I was able to see that it was less about trying to fix someone’s problems, and more about showing them some light and joy. It was hard to not address someone’s challenges openly, though. There were some people that you just wanted to offer solutions to, but that’s beside the point.
One popular choice for writers to include in their letters is color! Lots of writers individually decorated each letter, which I also chose to do. I found that my words had more meaning if I also chose to illustrate them. I love to create art, so this was a fun exercise for me. It was also important to me to create something personalized. When writing to a woman with a floral name, I covered the page with flowers. When I sent words to a dog lover, I wrote about my three dogs and drew little sketches of them. Each person was given a unique creation to make them feel special. While not every LAD writer does this, and some people choose to add stickers and colorful stationary, I felt that I had skills that should be used in this application, and so I took the time to makes each one special.
When you have a few letters written, LAD recommends combining them in one envelope and send them to LAD headquarters. They ask that each letter have the LAD ID number written on each page, and the number also written on the back of each envelope so they can track them. They receive the letters and read them, and if they past muster, they are then forwarded to the recipient. (You can include your return address if you choose or be completely anonymous.) There are a few reasons why a letter may be rejected: if the writer discusses issues the recipient specifically asked them not to, such as physical abuse or rape, or religious messages if the recipient asked you not to. Your letter may also be rejected if its badly composed or sloppy. However, if you do a great job, the founder will include a note about your letter in the Letters Sent portal for you to read, as well as an estimate on minutes it took to complete. It was nice to get lovely compliments about the artwork for them, which encouraged me to keep writing.
I have not received any responses from recipients, but I feel really good about knowing that people around the world have my letters and artwork. I hope it helps them. Some of their stories broke my heart, and I want to give them all really warm hugs, but a letter will have to suffice. I think this was a wonderful organization to support, and I actually plan to keep writing to them. I have a whole setup on my desk now with art supplies, paper, markers, and stamps, and I keep the LAD portal open all the time. It helps me to write a letter when I get tired of typing, or when I feel the need to change tracks in my day. It is especially helpful when I feel a lack of gratitude in my life, and I read some of their stories to reframe my mind. I know that its my job to help, and I am grateful for the ability to connect with others. I highly recommend that this organization should be included in our course’s collection of options to online students. It is a gem, and so very important.
Reflection
I really enjoyed this class! I chose it because I had recently gotten a diagnosis for ADHD and two learning disabilities, and I personally was going through some stages of grief. I was inspired to understand disability better, and I can say that not only did it help me work though my own problems and grow from them, but it also helped me become a much more empathetic and understanding person.
I felt that through the discussions with my classmates, I was also able to see disability from new perspectives, which made me more well-rounded in my perspectives. I felt that their stories brought a lot to the table, and I really appreciated that.
I also hugely enjoyed my service learning project, which I am also continuing on after this class! It was such an incredible experience writing to people, and I felt that the organization I chose, Letters Against Depression, was the perfect setting for me. It may not be for everyone, but I adored it. I hope that others who take this class also choose to use the organization as a place to get their service hours too!
I did struggle with reading the book a bit, as I have been learning a lot about my comprehension disability, and I felt that at times, it would have been nice to have assistive technology for this kind of thing...which I didnt realize was possible before this class! This was another area I learned a lot about, which will help me going forward. I think its time for me to explore what works best for my own learning.
In conclusion, I found this class to be my favorite experience this semester. I kept checking back to see what the next assignments were because I found them engaging. I really think this helped me grow immensely as a person and a disabled student.