GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — For more than a decade, the Kellin Foundation has helped provide behavioral health services to the Greensboro community, and now thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, it will be able to expand even more.
“We don’t want to wait until families get into crisis to be able to get the help and support that they need,” says Kelly Graves, the President, CEO and Co-founder of the Kellin Foundation. “So we’re hoping that we can help fill that gap and provide support for community services, really focusing on that prevention and treatment side.”
For the past decade, she’s served the Greensboro and Guilford County communities, providing mental health resources for those who might not typically have access to them. She says the Kellin Foundation hub “extends that reach by providing not only the behavioral health services but other integrated services under one roof. So now a family that comes in for mental health services can also access other services.”
Those services are through other nonprofits that partner with Kellin to be able to help people no matter their age or needs. “We do serve families from ages zero to 110,” says Graves. “But we do value our multi-generational approach here.”
The foundation’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, Lisa Duck, says if one member of a family is struggling, then “the entire family has an issue or problem, and so we want to be here to make sure that we’re able to address that need.”
Duck says the foundation serves an astonishing 12,000 people, helping them with all sorts of mental health issues from depression and anxiety to substance abuse. Kellin also has other community services available including access to a food pantry and access to some primary health care on-site, but Kellin volunteer Tara Sandercock says, staff have noticed a gap in their coverage for seniors dealing with isolation, which has led them to the development of a new senior center.
“The gap in services for older adults is one of the things that really struck me,” says Sandercock. “I guess not only because I’m an older adult now, but because of my work in the community.”
The senior center will be housed at the Kellin Foundation location on Walker Avenue in Greensboro so everything remains under one roof. That will allow older adults to have access to all the programs and facilities. This senior center will be built with help from the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro which donated half a million dollars, but Graves says the foundation will also be raising more money to match the grant.
The foundation is also looking for volunteers. That’s something Duck finds close to her heart. “Volunteerism has been something that I’ve been a part of for my whole life, and I encourage members of our community to jump in, pitch in, pick up a paint brush, jump in today, and I encourage everyone to be a part of our mission.”
To learn how you can donate or volunteer, you can go to the Kellin Foundation’s website.
