“Unless you have experienced the cold, paralyzing, unending darkness of major depression, you don’t understand.” David, 56-year-old Basalt resident

Created in 2010, the Hope Center is the only free-standing crisis center in the state of Colorado. With a 24-hour Hopeline answered by professional clinicians, a person is immediately met wherever they are and connected to local resources. From panic attacks, to bipolar manic episodes, to suicidal thinking and actions, the crisis is handled as individually as the person.

Following the vision of John F. Kennedy, who in 1963 signed the Community Mental Health Act, proclaiming that individuals with mental illness deserve to be treated with compassion and humanity and not locked in facilities, the Hope Center implemented an Intensive Stabilization Program. This program allows people to remain at home with loved ones, an alternative to inpatient treatment. In nine years, the Hope Center has supported more than 400 people in this program, and not one person has been lost to suicide.

When the Hope Center first opened, some of the most high-risk calls came from the schools in the Roaring Fork Valley. Annually, approximately 36% of crisis assessments are for individuals under the age of 18. The RE 1 School District and Hope Center partnered in order to combat this issue, placing mental health clinicians in the schools to see youth identified as “at risk” and have them assessed before the crisis. This program has become one of the most successful under the Hope Center umbrella.

Specializing in crisis, our most valued partners are the first responders. Standing side-by-side on 911 scenes where there has been a death, sitting with those who are lost and need a welfare check, or navigating the tangential thinking of someone who is psychotic, there is a true bond with our local law enforcement, fire, and EMS teams.

With more than 50% of operational dollars coming from donations, the Hope Center provides crisis services to the valley free of charge. If you have a passion for mental health and wish to see that no one ever has to face major challenges alone, a gift to the Hope Center could save someone’s life. Please go to www.ourhopecenter.org or send a donation to PO Box 1115 Basalt, CO 81621.

ourhopecenter.org
970-925-5858
PO Box 1115, Basalt