RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – According to a May 2022 White House briefing, 46% of people with significant mental health issues cannot afford to pay for mental health treatment. Though this issue is widespread across the United States, one organization in Gillette is trying to help people struggling in their area.
The Northeast Wyoming Community Health Foundation announced the “Hope Source” program, which pays for mental health care for individuals referred by their psychiatrist or therapist. The organization has been around for nearly 50 years and focuses on assisting people struggling to pay for health care. Since its debut in early 2024, Hope Source has received several applications and accepted around half of them.
“Hope Source is an incentive to keep going with your current treatment,” Gillette-based psychotherapist Brian Edwards said. “As long as it’s going well and you’re getting what you want out of it.”
Edwards explained Hope Source is not for people wishing to begin therapy, but rather for mental health patients who already have a relationship with a therapist and wish to continue, but struggle to pay. Patients do not apply for themselves, but their mental health care provider applies on their behalf. A future goal of the program is to cover medications prescribed for mental health conditions, which Edwards said many insurance agencies do not cover.
More information on Hope Source can be found on the Northeast Wyoming Community Health Foundation’s website.
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