Mental Health Association of Central Kansas (MHA)

MHA is a comprehensive mental health care center providing education, prevention and treatment of mental health issues throughout south central Kansas.  They have services for Children, Adults, and Seniors, as well as divisions for Outpatient Counseling and for Residential Services.  They are the largest non-profit housing provider in the state of Kansas because they really view housing as a foundational need.  No one is going to address their bi-polar disorder, their addictions issues, their lack of a job, their disconnection from their children, etc. if they don’t even have a place to lay their head at night.  And with 32 different programs, they can address each of those things under one roof for people by surrounding them with the resources they need.

In the children’s area, they have counselors in 26 schools in the Wichita School district, and will be in 10 more in Derby soon, as part of their prevention program.  Because if they can give kids the coping mechanisms they need to deal with life today, they can often stop those issues from becoming illnesses later on.  MHA also provides case management, parent support, and a program called ComPeer that matches adults who have dealt with a metal health issue to a child who is currently dealing with it.  This gives the child someone to talk to and helps them see the light at the end of the tunnel.