For the past year and a half, life has been anything but normal. The stress and uncertainty that comes with living through a pandemic has taken its toll. For those already living with a mental illness, the pandemic has exacerbated certain symptoms. For others, they are coping with mental health challenges for the first time. Now, it is up to us to make sure anyone who needs mental health resources and support has access.
Here at Wyandot BHN, we are taking steps to make mental health services easily accessible to anyone who needs it. Wyandot Center recently received a 2-year, $4.7 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to help increase our capacity to provide trauma-informed mental health services to children, youth and adults from Wyandotte County experiencing serious emotional disturbance, serious mental illness or co-occurring substance use disorder.
This funding will help us provide mental health treatment to thousands of Wyandotte County residents. It will also complement and enhance our ongoing efforts to become a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic. These opportunities are all about increasing access and making sure that mental health services are readily available for anyone who needs them. It can take someone nearly a decade to seek treatment for a mental health condition. We want to make sure we are ready to respond when someone does come to us for help.
We know that there is a growing need for mental health services right here in Wyandotte County. As students return to the classroom, they are coping with the trauma they have experienced over the past year and a half. We are seeing a heightened level of need among our consumers who are homeless or who come in for crisis services. This most recent SAMHSA grant will help us to support local students, respond to crises in the community and enhance psychiatric care and therapy for individuals of all ages.
As Wyandotte County begins to emerge from the pandemic, access to quality, low or no-cost mental health treatment will be essential. And while there is still much work to be done, I believe we are taking steps in the right direction.