New mental health program off to a fast start

GILLETTE (WNE) — A new program to help Gillette residents with their mental health has gotten off to a fast start.

Earlier this spring, the Northeast Wyoming Community Health Foundation launched Hope Source to help people pay for therapy and counseling costs.

Nachelle McGrath, executive director of the foundation, said she’s received 20 applications, and 10 of them have been approved. The other applications were sent back because they needed more information, and they will be re-submitted.

“I didn’t realize we’d have so many so quickly,” McGrath said.

Through Hope Source, mental health providers can apply for financial assistance on behalf of their clients to continue with counseling and therapy. Sometimes insurance won’t cover therapy, or people may no longer be able to afford it because of life events.

Under the program, a person can receive up to $1,500 within a one-year period.

The Festival of Trees committee set aside $75,000 from the 2023 event to start Hope Source, but McGrath said the foundation is looking for a more sustainable funding model for the program, especially given the response from the community.

The foundation is participating in WyoGives on July 10, and all of the money donated to the foundation that day will go toward Hope Source. And there will be other fundraisers that follow.

“We only have a certain amount of money that we can spend each month,” McGrath said. “We really have to look at who's the highest level need while trying to fund everybody that we can.”