Three Kansas organizations have been awarded grants from the Tower Foundation totaling $62,000 to support mental health services.

NAMI Kansas, Inc, which has a representative in Hays, received $9,000 to pay for training In Our Own Voice presenters. In Our Own Voice is a public education program developed by NAMI in which two trained speakers share personal stories about recovering from mental illness.

The Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, Inc., was awarded $30,000 to fund staff training across the state in the Mental Health First Aid for Youth program, which focuses on warning signs of mental health problems.

The Disability Rights Center of Kansas, Inc., was awarded $23,000 to fund development and promotion of a “transition toolkit” for recent high school graduates with disabilities, including mental health problems, to navigate the transition from high school to adult life.

The toolkit will provide information to students and their parents so they can understand their rights and how to obtain support during and after the transition. The toolkit will include a smart phone application.

The Tower Mental Health Foundation of Kansas was created as a result of an agreement between the Attorney General’s Office and the Menninger Foundation in 2007. It offers support to organizations that provide mental health services in Kansas. The attorney general is the sole member of the foundation, which has a nine-member board of directors. Dr. Walter Menninger is the board president.—KHI News Service