Mental Health

Loved ones of those with OCD stand outside, watching the walls close in, feeling powerless to help them.  JACK founder, Kim Vincenty, is a mother first who would do anything for her kids. And when her son Jack began his battle with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) nearly twenty years ago, she felt like most moms with a child diagnosed with a mental illness – scared, isolated and desperate to find answers.

Kim rolled up her sleeves. She became an OCD advocate, speaker, blogger, and support group facilitator. After ten years of serving in the community she found that in spite of tremendous resources and effective therapeutic interventions, there are still countless regions and communities that are underserved.  There is a lack of access to trained clinicians; lack of training for clinicians; lackluster mental health programming; stigma and bullying; low level funding for vital community outreach; families with little support or education about OCD and related disorders, and a lack of understanding about OCD and anxiety disorders.

At the same time, Kim’s research, dogged determination, and the hours spent with Jack in intensive therapy began to work.  Jack’s mental health stabilized and improved.

As a result, Kim was driven to help other families facing the same challenges she and her family faced, and to share what she learned along the way. JACK Mental Health Advocacy is a family-driven non-profit organization created to provide the tools to scale the walls of that box! It can be done.