Damien Center to boost LGBTQ+ services with $800K grant
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Damien Center has received an $800,000 grant from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration to expand its mental health and substance use disorder treatment services for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The four-year grant will fund two full-time licensed mental health therapists and group therapy programs. Damien Center said in a news release that one therapist will provide in-person counseling at the center’s headquarters on the near east side of Indianapolis, while the second therapist will provide remote care via telehealth.
“Access to culturally competent mental health care is critical for the LGBTQ+ community,” Damien Center President and CEO Alan Witchey said in the release. “According to the 2020 LGBTQ Needs Assessment, which surveyed more than 800 members of the Central Indiana LGBTQ community, 42% of individuals surveyed were concerned that services would not be LGBTQ+ friendly. This grant allows us to expand vital services to individuals who might otherwise struggle to find inclusive, affirming care.”
A 2023 report from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration indicates that lesbian, gay and bisexual adults are more likely than straight adults to use substances and experience mental health conditions such as major depression and serious thoughts of suicide.
The expanded mental health treatment services provided by the grant will work closely with the center’s Intensive Outpatient Program, which provides group therapy and support for substance use and mental health disorders, the news release said. As patients step down from intensive care, they can continue to receive treatment through peer recovery specialists and therapists.
The $800,000 grant also will help create group therapy programs tailored to specific needs, such as for members of the LGBTQ+ community who are older than 55 or transgender people, the organization said.
Damien Center is Indiana’s oldest and largest AIDS service organization. Last year, 255 patients received mental health therapy, the news release said, and 150 received substance use disorder treatment.