The Duke Energy Foundation recently awarded a $100,000 grant to the Mental Health America-Wabash Valley Region in Lafayette to expand staffing at two call centers currently serving 87 of Indiana's 92 counties.
Last year, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to establish 988 as the new, nationwide three-digit phone number for Americans in crisis to connect with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors. The new number will go into service in July 2022, and call volume is expected to increase demands at Indiana suicide prevention call centers.
"COVID-19 shed a light on the mental health pandemic that already existed," said Brandi Christiansen, president and CEO of Mental Health America-Wabash Valley Region. "Our suicide hotlines are an important tool to get citizens the help they desperately need."
For more information, visit www.duke-energy.com or www.mhawv.org.
