Like so many communities throughout the country, the health system in greater Bloomington is overburdened, particularly when it comes to mental health. For a complex web of reasons, we’re struggling to keep up with unprecedented staffing challenges, capacity demands, and underfunding. We’re unable to give every member of our community the care they need, when they need it.
When populations of our community are underserved, preventable disease skyrockets and untreated mental illness devastates communities. Right here, in our own backyards, mental health issues are increasing at an alarming rate.
From 2008 to 2018, the number of adults in Indiana who are experiencing mental illness has risen to nearly 21%, according to research published by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. The increase was even greater for youth in Indiana, the report found, with an almost 6% increase during this same period. Young people aged 12 to 17 who reported having a major depressive episode in the past year rose from nearly 9% to more than 14%.
In 2021, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, nearly 345,000 adults in Indiana said they did not receive mental health care when they needed it, and 37% said they did not do so because of cost.
Mental illness doesn’t only impact individuals and families. The economic burden of untreated mental illness on communities in Indiana results in $4.2 billion spent annually, according to an October 2023 study by the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health. These costs are attributed to premature mortality, productivity losses, direct health care, incarceration, sheltering of the unhoused, and caregiving.
Why Mental Health Must be a Community Effort
The challenges we face related to mental health are significant and complex. And the barriers that prevent people from accessing the care they need are far too great for simple solutions.
While our nonprofits, lawmakers, clinicians, and businesses are each doing their own part to address the mental health crisis, we see an opportunity to take a step back and look more holistically at these issues—and to coordinate our efforts so we can be even more effective.
Collaboration is the most powerful tool we can leverage to give individuals and families across our community equal opportunities to care for their health and address the mental illness crisis our state is facing.
That’s why Bloomington Health Foundation is dedicated to empowering our community. As local leaders in community health advocacy, we are focused on leading and convening initiatives to support mental health including emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. By forming strategic community partnerships between our neighbors in local business, philanthropy, government, and social services, we work together to apply our resources where they’ll make a sustainable impact.
Empowering Our Community to Tackle Our Greatest Health Challenges
But how can our community partnerships play a role in reducing some of these challenges?
- Increasing access to health care for vulnerable populations: Bloomington Health Foundation has awarded grants totaling $292,000 to support medically underserved and vulnerable populations, including the unhoused community and those living in shelters. This includes funds to hire a Family Nurse Practitioner at HealthNet Bloomington, which expands their medical services for the Homeless Initiative Project (HIP) from one day a week to five days a week. As a result of this program, HealthNet Bloomington earned national recognition and one of only two 2023 Street Medicine Institute (SMI) mentoring awards.
- Collaborating to fund services for those in a state of crisis: Bloomington Health Foundation collaborated with other community funding partners to provide a lead gift of $210,000 to establish the Stride Center. The Stride Center provides a safe and caring place of transition for people suffering from substance use and mental health disorders, and since its opening in 2020, it has provided hundreds of people with a connection to mental health care and a place to go rather than hospitalization or imprisonment.
- Youth suicide prevention and mental health care: In recognition of the mental health struggles of Indiana youth, we’ve awarded a multi-year grant to Youth First. Youth First offers students free access to highly trained, closely supervised professionals that provide evidence-based programs that promote mental health, prevent substance misuse, and maximize student success. Since the beginning of this grant in late 2022, more than 2,400 students have received support through this program.
- Launching a new chapter of Cancer Support Community: In 2021, we recognized a need in our community and region for services that support those whose lives are impacted by cancer. We helped fund the launch of Cancer Support Community South Central Indiana in 2021, and since then, we’ve committed $1.5 million of support as part of an ongoing, multi-year grant. To date, more than 5,000 people have been impacted by the services provided through hundreds of programs at Cancer Support Community South Central Indiana, which include cancer support groups, educational courses, and health literacy resources.
Let’s Give Everyone The Opportunity to Thrive
Whether you’re a local business leader, nonprofit partner, concerned neighbor, or policymaker, you have a role to play in removing barriers to health equity.
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