Sandy Pruett Project Information

The Sandy Pruett Project represents families living through the consequences of untreated Severe Mental Illness. The impact fractures families in ways most people never see. Some become estranged. Some live in fear behind locked bedroom doors. Others watch someone they love slip away, sometimes in crisis, sometimes in silence. Many are forced to navigate impossible choices without support, without safety, and without being heard. We’ve all begged for help, only to collide with a system that says there are no beds, no placements, no authority, no pathway to care. That is #DeniedCare. Most people living with Severe Mental Illness are not violent. That truth matters. At the same time, untreated psychosis places people in danger, most often to themselves, and sometimes to others. In the worst cases, it kills. Ignoring that reality does not reduce stigma. It increases harm. The Sandy Pruett Project is a safe, anonymous platform where families can speak their stories of denied care, and name the policies and practices that failed them. Every story is real. Every name is protected. Every voice matters. Sandy is not a person. She is a collective voice. The Sandy Pruett Project speaks for: • The spouse, mother, father, sister, or brother whose loved one believes they are the enemy • The caregivers whose addresses remain hidden • The caregivers shut out by a system that misreads HIPAA as silence • The loved one who’s trying, but cannot hold onto care that won’t hold onto them • Those who did not survive the wait These stories are not shared for sympathy. They are shared for systemic change. This is where we rage. Not at our loved ones. At the systems that denied them care, and continue to leave families behind. No names. No shame. Just truth. ✍️ Submit your anonymous story: www.sandypruettproject.org