SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac is giving $10,000 to Fondy CARES (Community Access Responding and Empowering Students), a school-based mental health program offered through the Fond du Lac School District. As part of the Fondy CARES program, the Fond du Lac School District – in partnership with local community-based agencies – offer mental health services beyond what is offered in a typical school setting. The services are provided by licensed therapists during the school day at all Fond du Lac School District facilities, covering 6,100 students. “This support will help us continue to actively engage parents, community mental health providers and school personnel in the lives of children and adolescents,” according to Melissa Schepp, Fondy CARES lead mental health navigator. “There are definite positives in offering these therapeutic mental health services in schools. In school-based settings, families, educators, and therapists are all focused on specific positive outcomes that improve the quality of life for the children in their care.” Funding will help Fondy CARES eliminate financial barriers to therapy, expand group therapy, expand therapy professional field placement internships, expand community partnerships (especially bilingual support), address waitlists, and build mentorship programs. “This donation will complement the efforts already underway in our schools thanks to our dedicated and committed mental health professionals who offer compassionate care within all our Fond du Lac schools,” according to Katherine Vergos, SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital president. “We are committed to enhancing mental health resources knowing that this need in our communities is far from diminishing. We continue to step up and invest our resources to help.” To learn more, call Fondy CARES at 920-906-6733 or visit www.fondycares.org. In 2022, SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac’s community benefit ministry totaled more than $400,000 across the communities it serves. This investment helps ensure access to health care for patients who are uninsured or underinsured, train the next generation of health professionals to care for those in need, and fund programs to address the most pressing health needs of our communities.
