Self-Help Web Site Empowers Those in Need Ruth Luban, Managing Editor, www.helpguide.org special to AgeVenture News Service Robert and Jeanne Segal lost their daughter, Morgan to suicide in 1996 at the young age of 27. After Morganšs death, the Segals thought about how best to use their resources to create a lasting memorial to Morgan. They wanted a resource through which "people in stressful situations can find the information they need and feel less alone." The internet offered a solution. This amazing amazing couple used their own resources and inspirational advocacy to launch a new nonprofit resource, funded in part by their local Rotary Club and the Center for Healthy Aging. The new resource is www.Helpguide.org. Four years in the making, Helpguide.org has become a significant resource empowering people with deep understanding and a variety of options. During their daughter's illness, they discovered the difficulty of finding good resources for meaningful help with mental health issues, particularly online. The Segals found existing web sites to be primarily commercial and often not up-to-date. The couple succeeded in getting the Rotary Club of Santa Monica and the Center for Healthy Aging to help them develop and launch Helpguide.org, a friendly web gateway providing non-commercial links focused on mental health, aging well, and elder care. The site is dedicated to their daughter, Morgan, whose death the Segals feel, was the result of too-little-too-late in the way of helpful, lifesaving information. The uniqueness of Helpguide is that it provides deep understanding and a variety of perspectives, offers options that are not tied to commercial agendas, and avoids complicated organization often found at other sites. Robert is an active member of the California Community Foundation. He coordinated the First Los Angeles Community Conference on Holistic Health in 1977 and has been very active in non-profit organizations ever since. Jeanne is a psychologist and author of several books. She has served as chairperson of the board of two service agencies and active in several others. Helpguide.org contains over 100 topic pages with carefully selected, up-to-date links to the best information on Mental and Emotional Health, Aging Well, and Eldercare. Robert and Jeanne are deeply gratified that many people are using the site to get help. They feel their money has been wisely used. "If Helpguide had been available seven years ago Morganšs life might have had an entirely different outcome." See related articles in AgeVenture Headline News. See related articles in AgeVenture Lifestyle News. BACK TO TOP

AgeVenture Front Page News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AgeVenture Web Site Map