Funding Priorities
Patient Assistance Fund
Why Mental Health Philanthropy Matters
Despite the growing prevalence of mental health conditions, charitable funding for mental health remains chronically underfunded. In 2024, mental health causes received just 1.7% of all philanthropic giving and accounted for less than 6% of total health-related donations (US Charitable Giving Statistics [2024]). This persistent gap leaves critical programs under-resourced and limits access to timely, lifesaving care. Philanthropic investment is essential to close this divide and ensure individuals and families receive the mental health support they need—when they need it most.
Financial barriers remain one of the greatest obstacles to receiving care. Nationally, nearly 1 in 5 adults experiences a mental health condition each year, yet cost is among the most frequently cited reasons people delay or forgo treatment. Many individuals exhaust insurance benefits or lack adequate coverage long before care is complete. Donor generosity helps close this gap by providing no-cost or reduced-fee treatment to adults and adolescents facing financial hardship—expanding access to essential care for approximately 100 patients each year.
Charitable Assistance Fund: While the acceptance of private insurance at Menninger has significantly broadened access to our services, reimbursement rates often fall short of covering the full cost of the intensive, evidence-based care we provide. On average, insurance will cover only 1.5 to 2 weeks of treatment, while optimal clinical outcomes require 4 to 6 weeks of continuous care. This gap can leave patients, especially those most vulnerable, incomplete in their healing journeys.
Adolescent Patient Assistance Fund: Adolescents today are facing a mental health crisis like no generation before them. Rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide among youth are rising at alarming rates. Yet far too many struggle in silence—without access to the care they desperately need. A landmark gift to The Menninger Clinic in 2025 established Menninger’s Adolescent Patient Assistance Fund to help youth ages 12-17 gain access to high quality mental health treatment who lack the necessary financial resources.
Consider these facts about adolescent mental health care:
- 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6–17 experience a mental health disorder each year. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
- Suicide is the second leading cause of death among individuals aged 10–14 and 25–34. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Veteran Mental Health Care: Every day, the men and women who have worn our nation’s uniform carry experiences that most of us will never fully understand. Combat stress, moral injury, PTSD, depression, substance use, traumatic brain injury, and the often-invisible wounds of service can follow veterans long after they return home.
- Over 7 million veterans in the U.S. have been diagnosed with a mental health condition.
- Suicide rates among veterans remain disproportionately high—nearly 17 veterans die by suicide each day in the U.S.
- Only 50% of veterans who need mental health treatment ever receive it. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs/VA releases 2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report - VA News/)
Through a strategic partnership with Home Base, The Menninger Clinic has expanded access to life-changing therapy for the heroes who need it most, offering care to Veterans and their families at no cost.
When you support The Menninger Clinic’s veteran-focused programs, you help remove financial obstacles to essential inpatient, outpatient, or transitional treatments and expand access to trauma-informed therapies.
For more information or ways to support The Menninger Clinic, please contact Ashleigh Hughes, Chief Development Officer by email at ahughes@menninger.edu or phone at
713-275-5400
