by Asher Bookspan, WSBT 22 Reporter
January is national mental health wellness awareness month and one family is working to expand access to mental health care in South Bend.
The Veldman family contributing a gift towards a new mental health research and services clinic.
According to the university, it will unite the William J. Shaw center for children and families and the suicide prevention initiative.
All with the goal of expanding affordable health counseling services to those in South Bend.
Matt Edmond, a member of the Veldman family, saying they’ve noticed a large need to improve services in the area.
“Those types of services are needed, right away. And so often, when people try to get those services, they’re told they’re not available for six months to a year. And so we need to shorten that timeframe so that they can get help as soon as possible,” Edmond said.
Edmond saying that the facility will be named after, Wilma and Peter Veldman, who taught him the value helping out community.
“It’s something that Wilma and Peter instilled upon all of us is the importance of, of investing in this community. The community’s been great for us, and we’re more than happy to be able to give back to the community,” Edmond said.
Both the Veldman family and Notre Dame believe that while the program will focus on the region, the results can grow across the country.
“We want to, you know, start right here in the local community, but then take those solutions, you know, throughout the country and really try to make a difference in the lives of you know, millions of people struggling with mental health problems across the country,” Sarah Mustillo, the Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters dean said.
The new facility will be built at the current Notre Dame Department of Psychology and aims to expand its counseling ability by one thousand five hundred patients.
