Bipolar disorder is a mystery and a subject of medical debate. But for the Blakes, it’s just reality.

Max Blake was 7 the first time he tried to kill himself. He wrote a four-page will bequeathing his toys to his friends and jumped out his ground-floor bedroom window, falling six feet into his backyard, bruised but in one piece. Children don’t really know what death is, as the last page of Max’s will made clear: "If I’m still alive when I have grandchildren," it began. But they know what unhappiness is and what it means to suffer.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/137517/page/1 to read the full Newsweek article. 

The Excellence in Community Collaboration award recognizes an organization, or group of organizations, that use the power of partnerships to solve community problems.

Integrated Managed Partnership for Adolescent and Child Community Treatment (IMPACT) Program, Mental Health Center Serving Boulder and Broomfield Counties

The IMPACT Program is a Boulder, Colorado community collaboration designed to reduce the out of home placement of children and adolescents—placements away from their families and their communities. Since its inception, IMPACT is keeping more young people at home, in school, and out of trouble.

Sharon Raggio has a Toyota 4Runner, and she has been stuck on the wrong side of Vail Pass in blizzard conditions. She has seen elk on the sides of rural Colorado highways.

In other words, Raggio feels as thought she has officially moved to the Western Slope.

Raggio is the new chief executive officer for Colorado West Mental Health Center, which serves 10 counties in western Colorado and has 14 offices across the Western Slope.

Raggio came to Colorado West in March from Pikes Peak Behavior Health Group in the Colorado Springs area where she was the chief operations officer. Raggio is a licensed family and marriage therapist and also has a business degree.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/features/stories/2008/04/30/042908_HW3_Colo_West_CEO.html to read the entire GJSentinel article.

Fifty years ago on April 29, Jefferson Center for Mental Health began serving the community from the basement of the Jefferson County Courthouse. Since then, it has helped nearly a half million individuals facing mental health challenges.

More than 500 community and business leaders recently showed their appreciation for the Center’s first 50 years of service and the thousands of lives that have been changed. "Destinations and Dreams," Jefferson Center’s 50th Anniversary Gala was held on April 17th at the Arvada Center with Honorary Chair First Lady Jeannie Ritter.

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