THUNDER BAY -- Krysta Piaskowski says the United Way saved her life.
Ten years ago, the now 26-year-old Thunder Bay woman was burning herself with a curling iron to deal with her emotional pain. She eventually reached out to her school guidance counsellor who pointed her in the direction of the Children’s Centre Thunder Bay where she received counselling until she was 18 and then moved on to the Thunder Bay Counselling Centre.
“They gave me great resources on how to help myself cope with my feelings and they taught me that what I was going through – it wasn’t normal – but there’s lots of people who go through that and it’s OK to feel that way. I just have to deal with it in a healthy way,” said Piaskowski.
The counselling centres are two of the 29 agencies funded by the United Way Thunder Bay, which announced their $2,602,824 fundraising goal for 2014 at the annual campaign breakfast at the Valhalla Inn Wednesday morning.
Piaskowski shared her story at the breakfast to a packed room of more than 400 people.
Although she received help in Thunder Bay, when Piaskowski attended university in Toronto, things got tough again for her again in her second year.
“I stopped taking care of myself and stopped doing the things my counsellor suggested for me,” she said.
She was in a depressed state and put on a waiting list at the university’s counselling centre.
A week later, she was sexually assaulted in the laundry room of her residence.
When Piaskowski finally reached out for help, a guidance counsellor directed her to the emergency room where after 20 minutes of questions, she was sent home.
“I went in there wanting to kill myself and they let me leave wanting the same thing,” she said. “A week later I came back to that same ER to get my stomach pumped because I tried to end my life.”
“It was really unfortunate I had to go through something like that because it takes a lot of courage to say ‘I have a problem and I need help right now,’ and they didn’t help me for whatever reason.”
Now that she’s back in Thunder Bay, where she works for the United Way, Piaskowski said knows there is rapid-access walk-in counselling available whenever she needs to talk to someone.
“I’m really lucky there are things like the United Way and all the 29 agencies and that people in Thunder Bay actually want to give and they care about the community. If it wasn’t for the people that give to the United Way, I wouldn’t be here,” she said.
This year’s campaign goal is about $800 more than last year and campaign chair Michael Nitz said in determining the number, they talked to all of the agencies about which programs they were trying to deliver.
“We want to have the most community impact possible and touch as many lives as we can but be realistic in making sure we can deliver those programs,” he said.
Although the campaign fell short of its goal last year, Nitz is confident they can reach this year’s and said everyone can make an impact whether it’s through corporate or individual donations.
The goal was unveiled through the organization’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and Nitz said social media is one of many ways they connect with donors.
“We’re really trying to bring it to the forefront. United Way is going to be on the leading edge of some things we’re trying online and it’s really important to connect with our donors as much as we can,” he said.
RBC Royal Bank is also donating $1 for every ‘like’ the Facebook page receives up to $2,000 until Dec. 31.
