By John Rohlf
The Message assistant editor
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Evansville was one of four organizations to receive grant funding from the United Way of Southwestern Indiana.
The United Way of Southwestern Indiana announced July 9 the distribution of over $568,000 in grant funds as part of their Mental Health Pathways to Potential initiative. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Evansville was one of three organizations to receive at least $150,000 in grant funding.
“We are grateful that United Way of Southwestern Indiana recognizes the mental health needs in our community and is investing resources to support these needs,” Catholic Charities Executive Director Denise Seibert Townsend said. “We are honored that United Way chose to provide resources to Catholic Charities to expand and support our counseling services to those most in need.”
Catholic Charities was awarded $152,440 to support a part-time, bilingual licensed social worker for the outpatient counseling program and to underwrite community language interpretation training for three staff members. The additions will increase the organization’s ability to serve Spanish speaking clients of any age. A portion of the grant award will also offset the costs incurred from Catholic Charities’ sliding scale fee model.
Seibert Townsend stressed access to mental health services is critical to the community.
“Mental health is an important part of individual well-being, as well as our community well-being,” Seibert Townsend said. “Through our services, we can help individuals and families experiencing a variety of mental health issues cope with the stresses of daily life. We are proud that Catholic Charities can be a resource for individuals and families seeking counseling services.”
The United Way of Southwestern Indiana also awarded $177,631 to United Methodist Youth Home to expand their therapy program for at-risk youth to include those recently discharged from inpatient programs and youth in need of outpatient services to prevent court intervention; $150,000 to Youth First to support evidence-based youth mental health prevention programs in five Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation schools with larger low-income populations; and $88,924 to Success Through Mentoring to underwrite one full-time position and expand mentoring opportunities into Spencer County.
The release stated United Way of Southwestern Indiana’s Pathway grants are intended to address root causes of poverty. They are made possible through the generous donations of individuals and businesses in the community.