photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Bert Nash staff stand with a $25,000 grant award from Security Benefit on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026.

The Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center has received a $25,000 donation to help it build a new Youth Recovery Center, and designs for the facility at Clinton Parkway and Kasold Drive are progressing.

Leaders of Bert Nash and other stakeholders gathered Monday morning for the announcement that the Topeka-based financial services firm Security Benefit had agreed to donate $25,000 to the Judge Jean Shepherd Youth Recovery Center, set to be located at 3500 Clinton Place.

“Many of our families live in Lawrence and the surrounding area, and some are also affected by mental health challenges within their own families,” Richard Wells, senior vice president and head of operations at Security Benefit, said. “… We’re confident that the Youth Recovery Center will make stressful situations more bearable for burdened children and their families and help ensure strong outcomes that will help positive generational impact.”

photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Richard Wells, senior vice president and head of operations at Security Benefit, speaks at a Youth Recovery Center gift reception on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026.

Exactly when the center will open, however, is unclear, as fundraising for the project continues. Bert Nash officials announced that the nonprofit has raised $6.3 million of a $12 million fundraising campaign, which will be formally launched to the broader public this spring.

“It is not an exaggeration to say that this center will change lives,” said Kirsten Watkins, interim CEO of the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center.

While there’s no exact date for the center’s opening, Bert Nash hopes the project will be completed within the next few years. It will offer 24/7 care, short-term stabilization and outpatient services in a single facility designed specifically for children and teens under the age of 18.

Watkins told a small crowd on Monday that Kansas has one of the highest suicide rates of any state in the U.S. She said suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10 to 14, and since the pandemic, those challenges have only intensified.

“We have only seen more and more youth seeking services with more intense and more complex needs. Here in Douglas County, the need is immediate,” Watkins said. “At Bert Nash, more than 60% of children referred to our youth and family outpatient services are considered acute or high risk, and they need care right away. Those families often don’t know where to turn and when a child is in crisis, families often face an impossible choice.”

photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Interim CEO of Bert Nash Kirsten Watkins speaks at a Youth Recovery Center gift reception on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026.

Watkins said while the county’s Treatment and Recovery Center – which opened in 2023 – can evaluate youth and serve as an urgent care facility, youth are not able for crisis services.

“And those families often are seeking care in Kansas City or Topeka, so leaving their support in this community to seek that essential crisis care outside of this community, the Youth Recovery Center changes all of that,” Watkins said.

Once the Youth Recovery Center opens its doors, Watkins said, Bert Nash expects to serve more than 2,000 children and youth in the first year alone.

Monday’s event also included more details about the design of the center. There will be three floors at the Youth Recovery Center, and each will serve a different purpose. Watkins told the Journal-World the top floor of the facility will house crisis services, the main floor will have outpatient services and the bottom floor will have group rooms, a play therapy room, a psychological testing room and more.

Watkins said a feature of the design that she likes is the natural light. There will be natural light all the way from the top floor down to the lower level, and it will come in through colorful windows.

There will also be a “sally port” added to the existing building where police, ambulances and families can bring someone who is in crisis.

photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Emily Farley, chief advancement officer at Bert Nash, speaks at a Youth Recovery Center gift reception on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026.

“They can bring someone in here, and then they have direct access to come inside and access services in a safe, appropriate and private way,” Watkins said. Above the sally port, there will be an outdoor roof deck playground.

Watkins said a lot of the demolition work on the existing building has been completed, and now Bert Nash is prioritizing different tasks with some money from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services that it has to spend before July. She said some of those funds will be used to begin work on the sally port.

Emily Farley, chief advancement officer at Bert Nash, said the timeline for when the facility is going to open depends on when the organization is able to raise the dollars and complete the construction.

Leaders on Monday said they were grateful to Security Benefit for its support of the project.

“With this support, we are one step closer to opening the Youth Recovery Center and creating a place where children, teens, and families can receive urgent, compassionate care close to home, rather than being sent hours away during some of the most difficult moments of their lives,” Watkins said via a press release.

Bert Nash staff and community members attend a Youth Recovery Center gift reception on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026.

photo by: Contributed

A rendering of the northwest view of the Youth Recovery Center.

photo by: Contributed

A rending of the southwest view of the Youth Recovery Center.

photo by: Contributed

A rendering of the west view of the Youth Recovery Center.

photo by: Contributed

A rendering of the Youth Recovery Center’s lobby and reception.

photo by: Contributed

A rendering of the Youth Recovery Center’s crisis center unit, which is surrounded by bedrooms.

photo by: Contributed

A rendering of a crisis center nook at the Youth Recovery Center.

photo by: Contributed

A rendering of the Youth Recovery Center’s crisis center lobby.

photo by: Contributed

A rendering of the Youth Recovery Center’s basement lobby.