Mental Wellness Alliance Partners Lead Increased Demand During COVID-19

Many of you have been outstanding champions for key programs that Park City Community Foundation operates, including the Mental Wellness and Early Childhood Alliances, the Solomon Fund, the Social Equity Initiative, and the Park City Climate Fund. We are still actively raising money for our initiatives and programs during this very challenging time of COVID-19 as they continue to operate at full speed. Our Mental Wellness Alliance partners in particular have experienced a big increase in demand during COVID-19.

Three years ago, Park City Community Foundation sparked the creation of the Summit County Mental Wellness Alliance, to plan and implement systemic, sustainable solutions that improve mental wellness in our community. Dozens of organizations and individuals have joined in to help. (See Ollie Wilder’s memory of starting the alliance).

Thanks to the support of our community and the tremendous progress made in the last three years, the Mental Wellness Alliance and its partners are working hard to ensure that individuals and families in need of mental wellness support are able to receive care during these difficult COVID-19 times.

Very soon after physical distancing guidelines came into play in mid-March, almost all mental health and substance use services went to telehealth platforms. Partners such as Healthy U Behavioral, Jewish Family Service, Peace House, Christian Center of Park City, People’s Health Clinic, the Drug Court, and others continued to see their regular clients—as well as new ones—through virtual solutions. CONNECT Summit County has convened new support groups online, is providing mental health peer navigation services by phone and email, and has launched a mental health tool kit to assist community members in navigating changes during this crisis. The Summit County Clubhouse leaders are doing virtual meetings and personal check-ins with their members. A few in-person services are still functioning but under very strict parameters.

While mental health providers stepped up quickly to expand telehealth and online services, the stress of the current situation, and the inability to gather in person for support is proving very challenging for many in our community. Despite an increase of 280% for calls to the County’s crisis-line, all crisis services have remained operational and able to handle the increased demand. That is a big win for our community! We look forward to in-person meetings and hugs when we get to full recovery from COVID-19.

The Community Response Fund for COVID-19, the Mental Wellness Fund, and our partner nonprofits are always open for donations.

Don’t miss upcoming events and webinars about critically needed initiatives and programs:

May 28: Early Childhood Alliance Update on COVID-19 – RSVP today>>

June 30: Crest Speaker Series on Mental Wellness and Teens – RSVP today>>