Lakeside is no different than many other non-profits that have encountered funding challenges due to frozen grants and funding cuts. Many non-profits that we contract with have had severe funding cuts and have little resources for our training. We also have seen some cutbacks from school districts that have previously had grant funding that is no longer available.
The future of many of our funding streams is uncertain. It will require us to think differently about how we will continue to support our mission to help thousands of students, their families and the professionals who serve them. In a generation with such prevalent mental health problems, we need to find ways to rise to bring help to the needs that are so pervasive.
One of Lakeside’s assets is the extensive curriculum and information we have developed for trauma education, socio-emotional skills, student and school support, parenting education and early childhood education. We have spent millions of dollars in research and development. We have trained thousands of professionals in schools and in the world of mental health. Yet there is so much more impact we can have if we can make our curriculum more accessible in a cost-effective way.
One of the unique opportunities to expand our training is in the world of virtual reality. We are going to see rapid growth in virtual reality training and AI in this next year. It is projected that in 2025 this industry will exceed $200 billion in value. By 2032, it should reach a value of over $1100 billion. This will be a wave of new enterprise that will be available to millions of individuals, companies and industries that will be utilizing this platform for training, functional growth and many new applications.
In order to help with the mental health crisis in America, which is growing exponentially, Lakeside will be developing new forums for training and therapeutic support for youth, parents, schools, veterans, businesses, healthcare, early childhood and related audiences. Lakeside will be developing its own AI for mental health and our training will be available to an entirely new audience nationally and globally.
With the help of a partner investment company that is committed to mental health education, Lakeside has established the Lakeside Metaverse that will provide a new platform of training and extended virtual reality. It will be consistent with Lakeside’s trauma-informed values and will be a virtual place to receive mental health and therapeutic education for anyone who can access the platform. It will make mental health available to anyone who has internet access.
To discover more plans for this new vision, you can visit lakesidemetaverse.com and learn more. This will be a significant step of growth for Lakeside as we enter a new aspect of training and development based on our comprehensive knowledge and expertise in the field of trauma-informed care and mental health. We will spend the bulk of this year in development of this new and exciting technology.
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
