SERVING INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES LIVING WITH MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS IN MIDDLESEX COUNTY SINCE 1968
Interested in partnering with Gilead to advocate for the needs of our clients and others impacted by mental illness? Here’s how you can help!
Recently, two Gilead board members with adult children who receive services for mental health and developmental disabilities wrote an Op-Ed that was published by the Connecticut Mirror. As parents, they too are frustrated with the state’s funding of community nonprofits and were compelled to speak out in this thoughtful and powerful piece: Opinion: CT must fund services for kids’ mental health, disabilities (ctmirror.org)
Year after year, community nonprofits need to fight for our piece of the pie. Things like salaries, raises, and general funding come primarily from Connecticut’s budget (among many other sources). When we organize our efforts, we can show our legislators that communities support an increase in funding.
Q: “How can I make a difference?”
A: You can join us at the Capitol on Wednesday, April 24th at 10am for Nonprofit Rally Day. Simply being there as part of our crowd sends a message. Register for Rally Day here.
Q: “I can’t make it to Rally Day. What else can I do?”
A: Calling and emailing your legislators is a great way to express your concerns and hold your elected officials accountable. If you can, try to avoid generic copy and paste or form-fill letters and craft something personal. Looking for inspiration? Click here for a sample letter.
Click here to find your legislators and customize a message.
Q: “My legislators already support nonprofits. What else can I do?”
A: It’s still helpful to let your legislators know how you feel, and even that you value their support. If you want to expand your reach, try talking to a few friends who live outside of your district or contacting the legislators that represent the town in which you work. Talk about what you do, share the above op-ed, or forward this email. You never know who might be an ally in this advocacy.
Feel free to use any or all the language from these testimonies prepared by Gilead’s CEO Dan Osborne. Click here to view testimony from 3.17.24 and testimony from 2.21.24
Thank you to board members David Porteus and Fran Ludwig for submitting this piece on funding nonprofits! Click here to read it.
Don’t know your legislators, we can help.
Follow these simple steps to find your legislators and email them directly.
Click here to visit the Connecticut General Assembly “Find Your Legislators” page. A new tab will appear. Follow these simple steps. You can transition back and forth to the Gilead page and the Connecticut General Assembly page to follow these instructions.
To find your legislator, follow these simple steps on the Connecticut General Assembly “Find Your Legislators” page:
To email your legislator directly, follow these simple steps.
Each year we gather on the steps of the State Capitol in Hartford to rally for community nonprofit funding. Advocacy is an essential part 
of the work that we do and we were proud to everyone who found the courage to speak up and let our legislators know what is important to us.
Thank you to all of you who have joined us for a Day of conversations with legislators and visibility. Your voices were heard and your presence was felt! Let’s all keep up the Great Work!
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March 4, 2020. Congratulations to the students from Daniel Hand High School & Gilead’s board member and artist, Suzanne Gaskell for a very successful “Art for Social Change” reception at the State Capitol! Gilead clients and staff loved viewing the portraits created by the student artists!
Inspired by the work of Abby Carter, whose powerful portraits of patrons at the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen put a face on the struggles of the poor and homeless in Middletown, students at Daniel Hand High School in Madison began a portrait drawing project with the hopes of raising awareness and advocating legislative action for quality mental health care. Gilead Community Services staff and clients were happy to have their portraits drawn. The positive work that Gilead is doing was highlighted in class but, as the project evolved, discussions were had about the societal prevalence of mental illness and substance abuse; no one is immune. The conversation turned to mental health and teens; some students decided to put their face on the issue. The statistics are staggering; according to the National Institute of Health, nearly 1 in 3 of all adolescents aged 13-18 will experience an anxiety disorder. Hospital admissions for suicidal teens doubled in the last decade. The National Education Association recently published an article that cited the following alarming data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: One in six high school students reported “seriously considering suicide” in 2017. That statistic included one in four girls an nearly half of gay, lesbian, and bisexual students.
Thank you to Suzanne and her students for spreading awareness and advocating for mental health care!
Mission Statement
Gilead empowers personal growth, independence and recovery through improved mental health, physical well-being and community integration.
Our Vision
To champion opportunities for recovery and growth through supportive and collaborative services that are marked by excellence, compassion, innovation and integrity.
Our Values
Excellence: We do it well!
Our services value each life that we touch. We believe that investing in our knowledgeable and compassionate staff and collaborating with our community results in high quality treatment that works.
Compassion: We do it with care!
Meaningful relationships and community connections are what make the “Gilead Family” so special. We think that you will notice something special about us. For us, it is more than a job – it’s what we love to do!
Innovation: We make it work for you!
Our services are designed to fit the unique needs of individuals. We strive to find more effective solutions through new ideas, creativity and collaborative partnerships.
Integrity: We do it the right way!
We bring respect, openness and honesty to our relationships with clients, families, coworkers, service providers and partners as well as with the community we service.
This video has been making the rounds on social media. If you haven’t seen it, it does a great job of shining a light on the unreasonable demands some nonprofit funders make. It’s both hilarious and depressingly accurate. Click here to view.