PAOLI – Orange County and the region will soon have greater access to mental health services, substance abuse recovery support, a new Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) and a recovery facility, based on the awarding of a $1.25 million grant from the IU Health Foundation. The grant, which will be paid over three years, will also help develop a health care professional workforce initiative in rural south-central Indiana. 

The goal of the grant was to help the IU Health Foundation meet “pressing social and health needs facing children and adults,” according to Brian Shockney, President of the IU Health South Central Region. The funding comes from IU Health’s Community Impact Investment Fund, which is administered by the IU Health Foundation.

Southern Indiana Community Health Care, Safe Haven Recovery Engagement Center in West Baden, and the IU Health South Central Region (including IU Health Paoli) all collaborated to seek the new funding, which will provide a variety of benefits to the region.

Shockney noted that Southern Indiana Community Health Care and IU Health Paoli are “proven community partners – our values align to positively impact the health and well-being of Orange County and the communities of South-Central Indiana.” 

“This grant will help expand and grow critical services in our Orange County region, helping many people address substance abuse issues and helping our communities become further trauma-informed about Adverse Childhood Experiences to advance our region,” said Nancy Radcliff, CEO of Southern Indiana Community Health Care. “We have long needed an Intensive Outpatient Program to support people seeking recovery, together with a facility that provides housing and resources – we will now be able to pursue these advancements in concert with Safe Haven, IU Health and others.”

“Our local organizations Thrive OC, Team OC, Safe Haven, IU Health and Southern Indiana Community Health Care have already been building a crucial local integrated system of prevention, treatment, individual and community-wide recovery from addiction and substance-abuse disorders,” said Yolanda Yoder, M.D., SICHC Medical Director. “These new funds will help extend these vital services and expand them in very important ways, directly helping those who are on a challenging journey.”

Dr. Yoder noted that the Safe Haven Recovery Engagement Center in West Baden “has established itself as a Regional Recovery Hub bringing and supporting recovery services to nine counties in our region, ultimately outgrowing its existing facilities in the process of achieving success.” The grant will enable Safe Haven to purchase and update an older ministries building, providing new facilities to establish a needed Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) and a 12-bed men’s recovery house modeled after the successful Progress House facility in Indianapolis.

The grant will also provide funds to attract and train needed mental health professionals and additional staff to support the regional population of people in recovery. Southern Indiana Community Health Care will receive financial support to expand its work with Thrive OC in reaching and educating employers and organizations in Orange County about trauma-informed policies and how to deploy best practices in hiring and supporting people who are in recovery from substance abuse disorders (SUD).

The collaborative effort reflects the values and vision of Southern Indiana Community Health Care, according to Dr. Yoder. “Our vision is rooted in our faith driven values, which serve as a guiding pillar for accessible, comprehensive care of the whole person and a catalyst for sustainable improvement in health outcomes,” she said.

The grant is expected to support a variety of other services, including means to improve transportation to increase recovery and mental health services access. Safe Haven, together with its SICHC, Thrive OC, and Team OC partners will leverage educational and outreach opportunities to support prevention, stigma reduction, and the further engagement and support of community leaders and residents.

“The board of Safe Haven is excited for this new opportunity to bring desperately needed services to our county for those with substance use,” said Brittany Stout, an SICHC Family Nurse Practitioner and co-founder of Safe Haven.  “Since opening our doors in 2019, we have dreamed of making the expansion of our services a reality and with the collaboration of IU, SICHC, Thrive OC, and Team OC we are able to do just that.”

“From its inception, Thrive OC has focused on working to reach children who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences as early as possible, concentrating on an upstream solutions approach,” said Brandy Terrell, executive director of Thrive OC and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at SICHC. “This grant will help strengthen Thrive OC’s outreach and positive impact, especially with a new capacity to attract mental health professionals to work in the region.”   

Grant administration will be overseen by the IU Health South Central Region administrators. A symbolic “check” to commemorate the awarding of the grant was presented on December 15 to staff and administrators of Southern Indiana Community Health Care, IU Health Paoli, Safe Haven, Thrive OC, Team OC, and others.

“Many people worked tirelessly at IU Health, SICHC, Safe Haven, Thrive OC and elsewhere to carefully assemble the complex grant application,” said Radcliff. “Our thanks to all who helped.”

A short video about Safe Haven and its positive impact can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPJaVfGrzys

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About Indiana University HealthNamed among the “Best Hospitals in America” by U.S. News & World Report for 23 consecutive years, Indiana University Health is dedicated to providing a unified standard of preeminent, patient-centered care. A unique partnership with Indiana University School of Medicine – one of the nation’s leading medical schools – gives our highly skilled physicians access to innovative treatments using the latest research and technology. Learn more at www.iuhealth.org.

 

About Indiana University Health Foundation

The mission of IU Health Foundation is to increase the role of philanthropy to help IU Health achieve its goal of making Indiana one of the nation’s healthiest states. IU Health Foundation improves the health of individuals, communities and the state by focusing its philanthropy on people, progress and partnerships. To learn more, visit iuhealthfoundation.org.

 

About Southern Indiana Community Health Care

Well-known as a high-impact health care provider committed to continuity of care, the nonprofit Southern Indiana Community Health Care organization is committed to providing high-quality, comprehensive, community-sensitive health care utilizing Christ-centered principles to medically underserved, rural communities. As a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), Southern Indiana Community Health Care serves as a “safety net” provider for vulnerable populations and focuses on increasing access to primary care services for Medicaid and Medicare patients in rural communities. Southern Indiana Community Health Care offers medical care in medically underserved areas of Crawford, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington counties. Southern Indiana Community Health is a member of the National Health Services Corps and receives program funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Southern Indiana Community Health Care offers services to all persons, regardless of the person’s ability to pay. For more information, please visit https://sichc.org/

 

About Safe Haven Recovery Engagement Center

Safe Haven Recovery Engagement Center is a resource to anyone who is struggling with addiction – whether you are a family member, friend or you yourself are affected by addiction. We are here to help. Safe Haven will connect people to social services available in our county and/or surrounding area: food, transportation, employment, housing or anything else that is needed to strengthen recovery. We operate as a Regional Recovery Hub serving Orange, Crawford, Dubois, Perry, Washington, Martin, Pike, and Daviess counties. For more information, please visit: https://safehavenrec.com/ 

 

About Thrive Orange County (OC)

Thrive OC is a coalition in the Orange County Indiana region of community leaders, healthcare professionals, and citizens committed to creating a safe, stable, nurturing community for all. Focused on reaching and providing solutions before they can manifest themselves into long-term challenges (upstream solutions), Thrive bases its outreach and strategic outreach on a data-driven and evidence-informed approach to achieve the best possible outcomes. The organization prides itself on being locally representative with a full cross-section of volunteers and professionals, all focused on increasing community awareness of Adverse Children Experiences (ACEs), advocating for the adoption of trauma-informed practices, and conducting interventions to prevent ACEs and cultivate resilience. For more information, please visit https://sichc.org/thrive/ 

 

About Team Orange County (OC)

Team OC Youth Mentoring is a 501c3 nonprofit that was born from community-wide strategic planning efforts to address adverse childhood experiences and build resilience in youth of Orange County. Team OC is a trauma-informed organization that trains, supports, and matches adult mentors with at risk Orange County youth to encourage and empower them to make life choices leading to more positive and successful futures. The three pillars of their programming are: 1) Prevention and resiliency efforts for 7–10-year old’s. 2) Training mentors in trauma-informed care/bringing community awareness 3) Family Engagement. Team OC’s vision is to influence young people’s development by cultivating resilience in order to help them become caring, responsible, and productive adults. Their mission states: supported by engaged parents, caregivers, community members, and mentors that are working to ensure that Orange County youth will thrive.