Shed A Light
www.ShedALight.com

    In Loving Memory of Barry J. Bohlander, 1979-2005










     No one who ever met Barry Bohlander could ever forget his big smile,
    generous nature, incredible talent, amazing intellect or his handsome good
    looks.  He was a gifted musician and natural athlete, a loving son and brother
    who made friends quickly.  He positively impacted so many lives from the
    time he was a youngster and the new kid in town or the newest patient
    admitted to the hospital.  Everyone loved Barry.  

    Barry passed away on March 20, 2005 at the age of just 25.  In his last 5 years
    he was challenged by schizophrenia and fought to the end to overcome the
    disease,  to find relief from the chaos within his own mind.  In just 5 short
    years, his hopes and dreams of a future with unlimited potential turned sharply
    into a journey to find answers in hopes of simply living with clear thinking,
    being able to live independently and create a meaningful life.

    Barry's positive energy radiated from him, like a candle's soft glow.  And it is
    with that vision that our Shed A Light Program began.  

    Our goals are:
      
  • To raise funds to help support research and advocacy through NAMI
    (the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill).

  • Expand education about mental illness and its impact on those afflicted
    and their families through writing, public speaking and information on
    this website with links to other important resources.

  • To provide emotional support for families dealing with mental illness
    through our Personal Renewal Mini Relaxation Retreats where these
    services are available.

  • To support the Compassionate Friends organization, which provides
    emotional support for families who have lost children and adult siblings
    who have lost a brother or sister.

    There is no cure for schizophrenia but research continues to shed light
    on the disease and science is continually finding new medications to
    ease the symptoms.   Much has been done, much more needs to be
    done.  

    Many people afflicted with schizophrenia have no support and receive no
    treatment while at the same time, their personal reality changes dramatically.  
    Consider what E. Fuller Torrey, M.D. wrote in Surviving Schizophrenia:

    "Schizophrenia is a cruel disease.  The lives of those affected are often chronicles of
    constricted experiences, muted motions, missed opportunities, unfulfilled
    expectations.  It leads to a twilight existence, a twentieth-century underground
    man.  The fate of these patients has been worsened by our propensity to
    misunderstand, our failure to provide adequate treatment and rehabilitation, our
    meager research efforts.  A disease which should be found, in the phrase of T. S.
    Elliott, in the "frigid purgatorial fires" has become through our ignorance and
    neglect a living hell."


                                  To find out how you can help Shed a light on
                                         Mental Illness, CLICK HERE

To learn more about schizophrenia,
CLICK HERE