Pawnee Mental Health hopes to receive a federal grant to help with the cost of their services.
Robbin Cole, Pawnee Executive Director, says the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration released grants to different community mental centers in February, and are now offering more of the same. Cole says the grants in February allowed for six centers in Kansas to receive federal funding to become certified community behavioral health centers.
Those community mental health centers are beginning the process of transforming themselves into centers where people not only receive mental health care or behavioral health care, but also there physical health care needs have an opportunity to be evaluated,” Cole says.
Cole says the federal government is now providing more funding to community behavioral health centers to do the same. She talks about the importance of Pawnee applying for the grant.
“Of course we know that physical health and mental health are linked. You can’t have good physical health without also having good mental health,” Cole adds. “If your mental health is suffering, your physical health is likely to suffer as well.”
Cole adds that the fund would be $2 million a year for two years. She says the application deadline is March 1 and they are anxious to put their name in the hat.
Funding for Pawnee Mental Health in the past has allowed them to offer different classes and programs. A recent venture Pawnee took on was reaching out to the general teen population with the “Teen Center”. Cole says the Teen Center is a great way for teens to meet new friends, play games, watch movies, and eat snacks. She talks more about the program.
“We specialize in working with youth and teens who have serious emotional disturbances, but we are really excited because we are offering a Teen Center and youth do not have to be clients to be able to attend.”
Cole says the Teen Center takes place the first Friday of every month from 6-9PM at Pawnee Mental Health Services on 1650 Hayes Drive. Cole says the event is open to those who are 13 to 18 years old. She adds that the cost of the event each week is $2.
She says Pawnee is also offering classes for parents, with there basic parenting class. She says the class is six-weeks long and is being offered via Zoom. Cole says she wishes this class was offered when she was raising her kids.
“We’re always encountering new information, or coming up with new things, and certainly, parenting is always challenging,” she says. “And as our world changes, I think sometimes the things that we need to do to be successful in parenting sometimes change too.”
Cole says the cost of the six-week basic parenting course is $60 and will help you focus on and fine-tune your basic parenting skills.
“What’s really exciting about this opportunity too, is that there are scholarships available for the residents of the city of Manhattan, so folks who live in the city of Manhattan are able to attend this basic parenting course for free.”
Cole adds that the basic parenting course will be offered several times throughout the year, with classes beginning on April 7, July 13, and September 13.
Pawnee Mental Health doesn’t just stop there with programs and classes. Cole says they are now offering COVID counseling programs. She says the program is not just for those who have had COVID, but for anyone who has been impacted by the pandemic- which she says is likely everyone. Cole says Pawnee was the recipient of funds to provide this program.
“That program is free of charge, it’s paid for through a Federal Emergency Management Grant, it is a time-limited program, and so we’ve been funded to provide these services through about the middle of this year,” she says.
She says the program has so much to offer for those who have suffered hard times during the pandemic.
“Individual and group counseling ,educational materials, basic support, community networking; you know if individuals are needing assistance because of COVID.”
Cole adds that the COVID counseling program is conducted via phone call or video chat.
To find out more about the offerings of Pawnee Mental Health, visit pawnee.org.
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