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Moments that Matter – She shoots, she scores!

There is an adage in academics that sometimes the only thing worse than not getting the grant, is getting the grant. That is because while grants are great ways to pilot new programs and invest in innovative ideas, they take a lot of work to apply, implement and oversee. If you have an already very busy staff, say like DMHA, then a grant could be viewed as piling on even more work, but as Wayne Gretzky said “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” When a grant opportunity from Health Resources and Services Administration became available to expand and extend the Be Happy program, DMHA decided to take a shot.

Allow me to let Jay Chaudhary, DMHA director, explain:

“Last year, there was some debate internally at DMHA about whether to apply for the grant. The Be Happy program is a partnership with the IU School of Medicine that began in 2020. It allows pediatricians, who have a patient with mental health issues, to get real-time support from a child & adolescent psychiatrist. We loved the program but had concerns about bandwidth and resources in DMHA to even apply for the grant.”

After some thoughtful discussions, Sirrilla Blackmon, executive director of mental health strategies and services; Dhiann Kinsworthy-Blye, DMHA controller and Amber Becker, program director, stepped up to the challenge. They put together team with assistance from Andrea Vermeulen, grant coordinator and Dr. Leslie Hulvershorn, DMHA medical director, to submit the grant.

Shot taken. Score! Funding approved. Talk about teamwork!

With the $2.6 million dollar award secured, Be Happy, would have five years of operational support and be able to expand statewide. The funding will continue to help pediatricians around the state address mental health concerns early and improve patient access to treatment.

This turned out to be even more important than we had thought, because, in January, the Indianapolis Colts announced a $650,000 donation to IU/Riley to expand the program even further!

Goal two! (Or for true hockey fans a brace.)

Then more great news came before the month was out. Steve Simon a member of the board of directors for the Indiana Pacers, announced that the Pacers Foundation would match the Colts’ gift!

Hat Trick!

Both the Pacers and Colts are part of Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch’s Roundtable on Mental Health, which FSSA helped create. The roundtable’s purpose is to get the private sector, philanthropy and the state in sync and building together a shared goal of better mental health for Hoosiers. The evolution of the Be Happy program is proof of concept of what can be accomplished with public-private-philanthropic partnerships.

In retrospect, that first grant was critical. It set the stage for additional support from the Colts and the Pacers. Hats off to DMHA and all those who stepped up to apply for this grant. It took a lot of work from a team who was already crazy busy but what an amazing outcome. And not just for DMHA but the thousands of children and their families who will be helped by this program.

She shoots…She scores!

Dan

Note: If you have any examples or stories of work you and your colleagues do that matters, please send them my way. You can send them to me at SecOffice@FSSA.in.gov with the heading Moments that Matter. These stories will be archived on The Hub here.