Donations, state grants save Headquarters Counseling; fundraising campaign continues

Headquarters Counseling Center logo

After a successful fundraising campaign that warded off the agency’s possible closing, the Headquarters Counseling Center Board of Directors will meet Wednesday to plan the organization’s 2017 budget.

Headquarters Executive Director Andy Brown said the board will also discuss at the Wednesday meeting and a January retreat measures to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Lawrence-based agency, which fields 20,000 calls a year on its 24-hour, statewide suicide prevention hotline, 1-800-273-TALK.

Facing a financial shortfall with the end of a federal grant, the Headquarters board announced last month an emergency campaign to raise $90,000 by Dec. 5 to avoid shutting down some of the agency’s programming, restricting the hotline’s hours or even closing down operations.

Brown said the campaign raised $60,000 by that deadline. With news of the campaign and its response, the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services provided a $25,000 matching grant earlier this month, he said.

With that grant, the Headquarters fundraising campaign is continuing through Dec. 31 to raise the $25,000 match, Brown said. To date, it has raised $10,000 of that amount. To donate, visit prevent-suicide.givecorps.com.

Brown said Headquarters was grateful for the response to the campaign.

“It really feels good to be done with the fundraising campaign and be able to operate next year,” he said. “It was really an all-hands-on-deck effort. We have had the support of the staff, volunteers and the board. We had a great amount of support from the community. Several businesses had events for the fundraiser, and a tremendous number of donors gave for the first time.”

The fundraising effort was also able to get considerable media attention, Brown said.

“Ultimately, that’s what led to the Kansas Department of Aging and Disabilities’ involvement,” he said.

In response to the coming financial pinch, Headquarters has implemented a number of fee-for-services. Brown said as the agency looks for long-term stability, it would explore other such opportunities.

“We may end up adding service in order to do that, but we won’t be subtracting any,” he said.

Brown said a soccer tournament to benefit Headquarters is being organized by Kansas City-area soccer players who have lost teammates to suicide. Information on the tournament can be found at onegoalkc.com.