Why Thresholds: Joanne Dahm
“We had every resource at our disposal. Good insurance. Connections. And I still couldn’t get my loved one the right care. That’s when I thought — what must this possibly be like for someone who has none of that?”
One of my family members went through severe depression and other struggles. We spent years trying to find the right doctor, the right diagnosis, and the right treatment. There were hospitalizations. There were psychiatrists who didn’t take insurance. There were inpatient programs that were extraordinary, and extraordinarily expensive. I just kept thinking: the system is a mess. And we were the lucky ones.
So, when I was ready to get involved with a nonprofit, I knew exactly where I wanted to focus. Mental health services. Because I had lived on an easier side of a very hard thing, and I couldn’t stop thinking about everyone on the other side.
Someone introduced me to Mark Ishaug, the Thresholds President and CEO. We sat down, and within minutes, I thought: this is the place.
What I’ve come to understand in eight years is that the heart of Thresholds isn’t a building or a program. It’s the people who show up every single day for the members: the clinicians, the case managers, the outreach workers. Protecting that consistency, ensuring that the people who need help most have stable, familiar faces in their corner…that is the work. And investing in those people is one of the most important things a board can do.
Eight years later, I’m still here. And I still feel like I want to do so much more.
If her story moved you, consider giving what you can. Every dollar goes directly toward Thresholds’ mission: to help people living with mental health and substance use conditions build lives of stability, dignity, and purpose — through housing, meaningful work, and the kind of steadfast human support that never stops showing up. Make a gift at thresholds.org/donate.