Kennebunk Savings President Bradford C. Paige (left) presents a check to Sweetser President & CEO Jayne Van Bramer
Kennebunk Savings is supporting access to mental health services for families in need, in partnership with Sweetser, a statewide community mental health nonprofit. The bank’s $10,000 grant will help pay for a variety of services for uninsured or underinsured families in the area, including school and primary care-based therapy support, mobile suicide prevention services, and residential care.
“Kennebunk Savings will support some of the most vulnerable individuals throughout the communities served by both our organizations as they receive help through their darkest and scariest moments,” said Kelly Thayer, Director of Development at Sweetser. “This funding will assist in removing barriers for Maine families, allowing access to mental healthcare for a brighter, more promising future.”
Since 1828, Sweetser has been serving Maine with a statewide network of care. With trained clinicians located in over 25 school districts and over a dozen primary care offices from Kittery to Bangor and hundreds of affiliate therapists positioned across the state, support is within reach for many who need it. The organization also manages residential care facilities for children and adults who need more intensive treatment, and their Mobile Crisis Intervention Specialists respond to crisis calls from families, teachers, police officers, and others in the community asking for immediate help with a person in crisis. Sweetser responds to these calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is the largest provider of mobile crisis services in the state.
“Each year, Sweetser provides hundreds of hours of mental and behavioral health services to children and families in Maine who cannot afford to pay for them,” explained Bradford C. Paige, President and CEO of Kennebunk Savings. “We feel strongly that this is an important area of need and one in which local businesses like ours can step up and play a key role. By helping to fill the funding gap, we can increase accessibility to care and ensure no one has to choose to forgo the treatment and services that they need and deserve.”