CMHS, Inc. is conducting a capital campaign to construct new facilities at 23^rd Street and Swope Drive. To date over $700,000 has been raised including in-kind gifts of land and a QuikTrip building that will be renovated and expanded.

School services and community support services for the seriously mentally ill will be housed in this new building. In order to furnish the new building, projected to be completed by early spring of 2003, CMHS is requesting furniture from the local community and local foundations.

An additional $700,000 still needs to be raised to complete the project. CMHS is asking the local community to support this center which serves the mental health needs of the community.

CMHS has obtained funding from the Kemper Foundation, the Speas Foundation, Gene Harmon, Luva and Carole Vaughan, the Isle of Capri, Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation, and land and a building from the QuikTrip Corporation.

The new building site will make services more accessible because it is located on 23rd Street in Independence, ½ mile east of Hwy. 291 and in close proximity to I-70. This is about one block from a Section 8 subsidized development. Virtually all of its 1,884 residents are living at or below poverty level with over 1,000 children under the age of 18. Increasing access to those living in poverty, as well as the working poor, will allow us to accomplish our objectives and build youth resiliency.

Our objectives include:

• Increasing the accessibility of services;
• Increasing the coordination of services to youth and the seriously mentally ill – providing access to a broader array of services;
• Decreasing the number of school drop-outs;
• Decreasing substance abuse;
• Decreasing gang involvement, criminal behavior, and violent acts; and
• Decreasing hospitalization by increasing support in the community.

A description of the NEW BUILDING

The new facility will add an additional 8,500 square feet of office space to our existing facilities. We will be able to provide more accessible services to people living in the eastern portion of Independence. The new building will house school services staff, outpatient therapy staff and community support staff to the seriously mentally ill. The building is adjacent to Sunrise House, which offers independent living to seriously mentally ill individuals.

Construction is anticipated to begin in the fall of 2002 with completion in six to eight months. Furniture, especially chairs, will be needed for offices and for the group room.

Characteristics of the youth to whom we provide school services may include: moderate to severe emotional and behavioral disorders; physically abusive to self and others; beyond parental control; poor relationships with family and peers; poor school performance (i.e. truancy, disruptive classroom behavior, and poor academic performance); and history of physical or emotional abuse or neglect. They may come from families that: have poor communication patterns; are abusive or neglectful of the children; suffer from extreme stress; are not very knowledgeable about child development; and lack parenting skills.

Characteristics of the seriously mentally ill population we serve include having a mental illness that precludes living in the community without some level of support, requires ongoing medication management and keeping stress in their lives to a minimum so that they can lead productive lives without requiring hospitalization.

CMHS looks to members of community groups, not only for funding, but also for input as to how this project can be implemented and supplemented effectively. A capital campaign committee as well as the CMHS Board of Directors has input. In addition, we have sought opinions from our consumers and from the neighborhoods around the QuikTrip building. We have worked with Swope Parkway Health Center to discuss the possibility of locating a medical/dental health care center in our building. We will continue to make known our need for, and gratefully accept, donations.

The support of the community is important in completing this project to provide for the mental health needs of Independence and northeastern Jackson County.

If you would like to make a donation, please contact Rachel Goldman, Resource Development Director, 816/254-3652, ext. 262.