You are walking on the road when you come to a fork. Two paths emerge. A fellow traveler on the road of life advises one is short and long, and the other is long and short. Which one will you choose?
We live in a short-cut-focused world. Do this, and you’ll be rich. Do this, and you’ll be skinny. Do this, and you’ll be happy. This is “the short long road” approach. At first glance, it seems like you are on the right path because it promises quick results. Yet when you find yourself on this path, you go in circles, face impossible obstacles, and likely never reach your destination.
The path of healing is a long short road. It appears long and treacherous at the start, it promises no quick results, and it forces you to show up, in a real way, each day. It can demand so much from us, pushing us further than we imagined possible. But in the end, you reach your goal, a goal worth reaching.
The concept of the long and short road is a well-known Mashal taken from the Tanya. As we begin the Tanya anew, it is helpful to look back and reflect, not just on the teachings we learned the past year, but on how we lived the teachings in our daily lives. The long short road is an approach that applies to all matters of our well-being, spiritual, as well as emotional.
Let’s face the facts: today’s generation is suffering in new and unprecedented ways. While the previous generation’s physical battle came in the form of running from religious persecution, our generation’s physical battle is the relationship we have with our own minds. The battle is impacting teens, adults, children—everyone in our community. And it takes a community to fight that battle.
Who are we:
The Long Short Road began as a dream in 2016, when our founder, Leigh Ioffe, sought a way to support and educate teens in crisis. When she couldn’t find the right tools, she created them herself, and thus, the Long Short Road was born.
In 2019, with an intimate team and the partnership of the Gelt Charitable Foundation, we established ourselves as leaders in suicide prevention and mental wellness education. In just three years, we have built an organization from the ground up and become nationally recognized leaders in suicide awareness and prevention. In August 2022, we officially developed The Long Short Road as its own non-profit organization. It’s humbling, and we’re grateful to be here!
Our team has facilitated training sessions for the Boston Fire Department, Yeshiva University, Hatzolah South Africa, and many more organizations. We’ve also visited college campuses, high school classrooms, and summer camps across the U.S. Each of our classes is custom-tailored to the community’s needs.
Every day, we are given the opportunity to save lives.
This is a dream we never thought was possible when we began this long-short road.
We’ve come a long way in three years, and now we need your help to go even further!
What will we do with the funds?
We will expand our education efforts to cover trauma education, mind-body modalities, and creative tools for healing.
We will expand our referral hotline, to provide more community support and connection.
Additionally, funds will go to create support groups, therapy subsidizing, and developing our “writing to heal platform”, Speak.
These preventative measures can save lives. When we address suicide, we really need to address the core issues, not only in times of emergency. We need you to help make this community a stronger, safer place.
We’re on the Long Short Road to healing. Will you join us?
Support our efforts now at: Charidy.com/LSR
