Hello, World!

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood."-Marie Curie

Welcome to the official blog of Phoenix Rising, an organization dedicated to getting people to talk and think about important social issues. The social challenges that our organization focuses on include homelessness, loneliness, mental illness, addiction, and LGBTQ issues. 

I started this organization out of necessity. When I moved to Madison, WI for college, I met a lot of homeless individuals. It bothered me then and it bothers me now, that we as a nation can afford to house our criminals in prisons, but leave the severely impoverished to freeze on the streets. For years, I'd pass the homeless on the streets, internally sighing because there was nothing I could do. 

Well, now I am doing something. I am starting Phoenix Rising to start a dialog about not just homelessness, but also other important issues. Also around the time I started college, I became seriously interested in psychological health. I read everything I could get my hands on concerning mental illness and its treatment. I hope to share this knowledge through this organization. Loneliness and isolation are major issues that simply are not being talked about, and I want to change that. I want to make it okay for someone to reach out to a friend, to say "I feel lonely; would you like to hangout this weekend?" without seeming pathetic or desperate. Addiction is a tricky issue that interacts with the other focuses of our organization; many people with mental health challenges also deal with substance abuse, and 50% of the homeless population has an addiction. Finally, LGBTQ issues are exceedingly important. People with minority sexualities and gender identities lead challenging lives, complicated by how those around them respond to their unique identities. I have a transgender friend whose parents cut him out of their lives when he came out to them. Tragedies like this, a family split apart due to misunderstanding and fear, should never happen.

I have several ideas for this new organization. I have started a Facebook page; I will share material related to social challenges on this page daily. I have this blog, which I will update regularly. I plan to start a video blog on YouTube. Several years ago, I tried to start a forum for people with mental illness who are interested in a career in medicine. I plan to revive that forum, and open it up to mentally ill people in all health professions. Eventually, I want to address the significant problem of loneliness with a social network for lonely people. It will be like a dating site, but for friendship, and anyone who needs a friend or two can make a profile and start connecting.

My most ambitious goal for Phoenix Rising, however, is to publish e-books that directly address social challenges. I have several half-finished novels that I would like to complete and publish. I also have a nonfiction book on bipolar disorder that I've been working on since 2012; I hope to finish that by the summer of 2015 and get it out for people to read. In addition to my work, I would like to accept submissions from other authors on relevant topics. I hope to also host an annual poetry and short story contest, for people to express themselves regarding their personal challenges with the relevant issues.

If you have any questions regarding this organization and how you can get involved, feel free to message me on Phoenix Rising's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/affjerf or add a comment below.