Seeds of Hope

Dr. Frances Mead-Messinger
with her husband Rod in China




Listen to a short 3 minute audio with
Dr. Francis talking about how to
Keep your brain healthy.

Doctor Frances Mead-Messinger did not start out life as an ordinary
little girl. At four years old, she found herself in an orphanage, dying.
“I was dying as a “failure to thrive” child,” says Frances. “That’s
common in orphanages. The child quits eating out of depression.
I can remember one night being in the cot with all the little cots
across the room. There was a light coming in and I saw the little
shadows of the little girls across the room and thought to myself
“Oh those poor little girls. I need to help them.” Immediately my
heart went out to those little girls. It just changed my whole life.”

That decision to help those children saved her life.
It gave her the will to live.

The will to live is something many people don’t have. Dr.
Messinger works around the world, helping people overcome
hopelessness. Either through the many program’s she’s developed,
or the traveling she does as an ambassador for mental health,
Frances inspires, not just individuals, but
whole countries to find ways to turn lives around.

This takes a woman who lets nothing stop her. She had throat
surgery in December and still came to do the interview wearing
a neck brace.

At Fatherhood 101.org, Frances helps dads remember to put
the children first and not get overwhelmed by the huge emotions
of divorce. This helps bring them all back into the cycle of life.
She says, “A lot of dads just leave. They get their own life and
let the kids go. Long term that’s destructive to the kids. In order
to mature with balance, all children need the freedom to love
and respect both parents. When a parent (divorced or not)
attempts to alienate a child from the other parent, that’s what
I call ‘child abuse.”

Frances is also an ambassador for the People to People
Foundation started in 1956 by Dwight D. Eisenhower to
promote international understanding. She has taken 3 trips,
one to South Africa, one to India and her most recent, to China.
People all over the world are having stress-related problems.
“Since our country looked at these issues in the 1950’s, we can
guide other countries through the process of accepting and
dealing with mental health care. It’s something all countries
go through, “ says Frances. “If you look back into the roots
of our country, I’m sure no one thought of schizophrenia.
Cowboys were just acting weird and went out and shot people.”

In China there is tremendous stress due to the growing
economy and pressure to succeed. Family size is highly
controlled. Frances said, “They can have one child. If it’s
a girl, they can have a second child. We heard in Shanghai that
if the mother has more than two children, the husband is fired.”

Frances was asked to be an ambassador because she’s an
expert in the field of psychology and neuropsychological
testing, She not only understanding brains, but the people
who own them.

Frances also worked with people in Poland. She co-wrote a
book about a little girl who went off on a spaceship, Magdela
Goes to the Moon. “It showed how women can do anything
they want to do,” says Frances. In effecting change on a
large cultural level, Frances is respectful of the culture. “We
didn’t want to step on their toes. All we could really do was
give them the concept of how to open up the little girl’s world.
We took it to extreme in the Polish book, going out to space,
which was a little far out there at that time.” (This was before
Sally Ride). Frances volunteered to do the book because the
book would go to orphans in Poland, fulfilling part of her wish
as a four-year-old.

From starting one of the first Driving Under the Influence programs,
while she was director of St. Vincent’s. Hospital, to being one of
the founding members of the National Organization of Women
(NOW) to starting a foundation with her husband, Frances is busy
helping people, as she promised she would from that little cot
in the orphanage. Her programs have been successful. The
DUI program was initially in one room. In six months, “it expanded
to the entire fourth floor of the hospital!”

Around the world and far away from her San Clemente home,
people stressed by the complexities of modern life, have been
affected by her help. “I always have personal goals that are
maybe a little unrealistic,” said Frances. “Change the whole
world!” With a gentle, yet powerful influence, Frances has planted
seeds of hope around the world – “pathways of survival.”
Perhaps other orphans will grow up believing that they too,
like Frances, can help change the world.

Live like a hero!

Terri Marie is the author of “Be the Hero of Your Own Game.”
For past articles on Heroes Among Us, to share your hero stories,
or to recommend a hero for a future article, please visit
heroesamongus.blogspot.com.
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Dr. France’s Life Tips
• Your biggest struggles are your biggest blessings
“The most important thing to me is family, that comes from
my orphanage experience.” It is also where she received her
biggest gift in life. That decision to help the orphans changed her life.

• Keep the brain under control – Yours!
“My personal take is when you depend upon a chemical to
do your work for you, then you lose control,” she says.

• Hold on for the long term
Cultural changes take time “especially when you are talking
about children,” she says. “You don’t really know until they
get into their twenties what kind of an impact something
may have,” she says. This probably goes back to her roots.
Her great-grandmother was full-blooded Choctaw. They think
generations ahead in their decisions. “We build long term
change through
our children.”

• Dance your way through life
Frances feels dancing is a great way to keep the brain and
mind connected and keeps the brain young. “Rod and I do
a lot of dancing” When she was doing diagnostic work and
saw early dementia, she would tell seniors, “Do a lot of
dancing. If you really want to remember something, say it to
yourself while you’re dancing, while you’re moving. It makes the
brain pull together.”

• Always learn. Education changes the world
“The more you learn, the more you know, and the more you
grow,” says Frances. “We donate to education. That changes
the world. That’s where it all begins.”

• You can always give
“My life is now totally built around giving. It gives such joy
inside to give. When I say give, I don’t mean just money or
presents, just to give. Give to help others. Those are what I
believe brings blessings in your life.”

• Say yes and find a way
When Frances started the ADAP program, she needed a
room and asked the Queen of Angel’s hospital if they
could donate one. They said, “Yes,
but you have to be a non-profit.” Frances replied, “That’s
fine, we’ll do that.’ “ I had no idea what a non-profit
organization was. She asked Rod, her husband, “Can we
start a non-profit?” He said, “Of course.” They started
the Sanivita Foundation, a 501-C3, which they have
donated to for 30 years.

• Family is most important
“My step-grandfather was a big impact upon my life.
I lived with him after the orphanage. He introduced me
to the library. That a huge impact on my life. He’s a role
model for me, ethical and full of integrity.”

• Don’t be afraid to take steps to change the world.
If a 4-year-old can do it, so can you.

Her “Triangle of Life” - Open mind, healthy brain

Frances feels most people take a firm position, then
close their brains, when they need to think for themselves.
At the base of the triangle are those who accept the beliefs
and values given to them by culture, etc. She calls this a
“given” position. In the middle are those who gather info,
take a position, and stick by it no matter what. At the top
of the triangle, are the few who gather info, take a position,
but remain open to all other positions. I believe Frances
is there. On her trips, she has been connecting India, South
Africa and now China in a triangle of understanding,
helping to move more people up the triangle of life.