RENTON, Wash. Feb. 13, 2025 — Providence’s Well Being Trust has awarded a third round of innovation and transformation grants totaling $3.6 million. The grants support initiatives to expand access mental health care, close care gaps, and create sustainable mental health services throughout the Providence seven-state footprint.
The grant initiatives also include work to deepen collaborations through external partnerships supporting 29 community-based organizations throughout Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
“There has never been a more urgent need to expand access to mental health care, especially for the poor and vulnerable and those most marginalized in society,” said Arpan Waghray, M.D., CEO, Providence’s Well Being Trust.
Dr. Waghray added, “Providence’s commitment to increasing access to mental health care is rooted in a tradition of providing compassionate care to those in need. Our proactive approach to addressing the mental health crisis includes a long-term commitment to expand access and deploying actionable solutions to transform mental health care, improve clinical care outcomes, and alleviate pain and suffering caused by mental health conditions that affects millions of individuals.”
In the past three years, Providence’s Well Being Trust has awarded $14.8 million in grants supporting mental health initiatives impacting a projected 740,000-plus lives in communities throughout the Providence seven-state footprint.
The current grant initiatives range from expanding access to psychological services for high-risk children and adolescents to increasing community access to therapy and improving access to substance use services in emergency care centers.
Other initiatives include:
- Implementing integrated behavioral health in pediatric settings to identify and treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions.
- Normalizing conversations about mental health and stigma reduction efforts in Spanish-speaking communities.
- Expanding mobile crisis outreach services.
- Integrating mental health and depression screenings in primary care settings.
View the full list of grant initiatives below:
Improving Patient Care; Expanding Access
Expanding Access and Improve Patient Care
- Crisis stabilization center remodel.
- Increasing community access to therapy at the Providence Intervention Center for Assault and Abuse.
- Associate Social Work Pathway Program: Improve access to integrated behavioral health services.
- Kadlec Southeast Washington behavioral health service line expansion.
- Supporting mental health promotion, education, and stigma reduction in Spanish-speaking communities.
- Integrated behavioral health in Montana primary care enhancement project.
- Depression screening, suicide risk assessment and safety planning training for caregivers and providers.
- Improve access to mental health services via the CARE network integrated mental health therapy.
- Enhance quality of care of hematology/oncology patients by creating access to behavioral health treatment.
- Expand group psychotherapy for patients experiencing depression/anxiety.
- Improve access to behavioral health services at St. Mary’s High Desert Medical Group via behavioral health integration expansion.
- Improve access to substance use services in the emergency care center.
- Collaborate with the Kennedy Forum’s on its Alignment for Progress initiative aimed at fostering collaborative action and facilitating a national dialogue on mental health and substance use. Goals: by 2033, 90% of the population is screened for MH/SUD, 90% who need it receive quality treatment, and 90% manage symptoms and achieve recovery.
Community-based grants
- Conquer Clinics: Mobile opioid treatment provided through “street medicine” outreach.
- Valley Cities: Reduce wait times and improve the admissions-to-treatment process.
- Gather Church & Community Services: Engaging individuals with high acuity behavioral health needs and helping them to overcome barriers to care.
- Spokane Treatment & Recovery Services: Expansion of swing shift hours for hospital diversion services.
- Crosswinds Recovery Center: Housing support for individuals in addiction recovery.
- One Community Health: Mobile medical program to deliver wrap-around medical and behavioral health care and support.
- Rose Haven: Support for on-site mental health assessments, safety-planning, and referrals to longer-term mental health care.
- Guidance Center of Lea County: Spanish Language intensive outpatient program to address behavioral health and addiction issues.
- Permian Basin Counseling & Guidance: Client assistance program which ensures that low-income clients can access quality mental health care at reduced/no cost.
- Kedren Health: Support for mental health/substance use services provided through street medicine outreach.
- Gailen & Cathy Reevers Center: Emotional CPR, E-CPR, “Train the Trainer” program.
- Amazing Grace Conservatory: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)/ECPR “Train the Trainer” program.
Initiatives supporting youth and teens
- Expanding access to psychological services for high-risk children and adolescents within the hospital and community behavioral health programs.
- Renton School District mental health support project 2025-2026.
- Increasing access to evidence-based treatments for children and families in the Columbia River Gorge and eastern Oregon.
- Behavioral health integrated collaborative care for pediatrics.
Community-based grants
- Volunteers of America, Alaska: Behavioral health services for transitional-aged youth.
- Compass Health: CAP (Child Advocacy Program) services to children who have been sexually abused or witnessed a violent crime.
- Center for Human Services: Mental health supports in schools.
- Friends of Youth: Support expansion of shelter space.
- SOUND Health: Support expansion of Child and Domestic Violence Response Teams.
- Family Support Center: Mental health therapy sessions; multidisciplinary wrap-around services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
- Children’s Home Society of WA/Akin: Support groups and resources for LGBTQ+ youth.
- Mirror Ministries: Advocacy and support services for minor-aged victims of domestic sex trafficking.
- Friends of the Children – Western Montana: Provide children on the Flathead Reservation and in Missoula County with mentorship aimed at improving access to mental health care and supporting well-being.
- Southern Oregon Education Service District/Early Learning Hub: “Pyramid Model Framework Implementation” project to promote young students’ healthy social/emotional development.
- Texas Girls and Boys Ranch: Support for counseling staff professional education and equine-assisted psychotherapy.
- Texas Tech Community Advocacy Project for Students: Individual sessions, support groups, counseling services, and summer programming.
- Texas Tech Center for Adolescent Resiliency: Provide Mental Health First Aid Training at We Lead Together camp.
- Palmer Drug Program Lea County: Substance use disorder prevention program for children aged 5-12 who have family members with addiction issues.
- Progress Foundation: Provide crisis residential treatment services to transitional aged-youth and adults.
- Project Hope Alliance: Mental health supports for unhoused children and their families (primarily AAPI).
- MillionaireMindKids.org: Mental health supports for Latinx children and families.
