By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
An agency that provides support for people with severe mental illnesses in Hays is in danger of temporarily closing due to a paperwork error and it is seeking donations to stay open.
High Plains Independence in Hays supports people with mental illnesses, many of whom are on disability and older than 65. All of the organization's services are free.
The agency, which is one of eight consumer-run organizations across the state, provides a drop-in facility, support groups in Hays and Great Bend, as well as regular visits to the state mental hospital in Larned.
After a recent audit of the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability, which funds CROs, High Plains Independence was informed it had not filed the necessary 990 forms with the IRS to maintain its nonprofit status, Ginna Anderson, High Plains Independence executive director, said.
Anderson was never notified by the state, the IRS, or the High Plains' accountant that the organization had not filed a 990 form since at least 2014.
"I took over in 2011, and I have been asking the state, which was our funder, for a directors' meeting or training because I just fell into it and I have been doing the best I can with what I know, and trying to help people maintain recovery," she said.
"I would say because of the large turnover with [the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability], no one ever asked about it," she said.
All employees of the High Plains Independence, including Anderson, have mental illnesses and are sometimes referred to as consumers.
She added, "You can't do what you don't know. None of us is educated in finances and tax laws. That is what you have those other people for."
Without its nonprofit status, High Plains Independence can't receive funding from the state until it is reinstated.
High Plains Independence has an annual budget of $125,000. The organization employs three part-time staff, including Anderson. It also rents a building at 1200 Canterbury and maintains a transportation vehicle.
The organization has about $12,000 a month in expenses, and Anderson said it does not have enough money in the bank to make its August payroll.
Anderson said the organization is working with a new local accountant and has already started the process of filing the necessary paperwork with the state and IRS to regain its nonprofit status.
However, that process may take three to six months to complete.
Who does High Plains Independence help?
Anderson said she is concerned this vital resource for people who struggle with mental illness might have to close until the organization can regain its state funding, leaving people who depend on the support at High Plains in the lurch.
Consumer-run organizations were created to reduce rehospitalization. The CRO's, as they are also known, started as drop-in centers. When they began, they were only required to have a TV, and coffee and tea.
Today, High Plains Independence offers daily support groups and activities Mondays through Saturdays, and outreach into the Hays community and beyond.
The organization serves about 35 members in its Hays location. It provides a support group for another 10 regular attendees to a weekly support group in Great Bend.
More people are served through Anderson's monthly visits to the state hospital.
One of the faithful members of the High Plains spent years in Larned. He told Anderson he had hope for the first time in his life when he heard Anderson speak at Larned.
"You never know what impression you make on people," she said.
High Plains Independence has also taken over peer support of the Assisted Outpatient Treatment program in Hays that was formally funded through a grant held by the local National Alliance on Mental Illness, also known as NAMI.
Anderson is a part of a team that supports people in the community who have had repeated hospitalizations or encounters with law enforcement because of their mental illnesses. Anderson provides peer support and a connection to resources at High Plains Independence.
Assisted Outpatient Treatment is also aimed at reducing rehospitalization and incarceration for people who have severe mental illnesses.
"People stay out of the hospital because they can come out here to a pleasant environment where they can own their feelings and they can get supporting tools so they can work through issues," she said.
"They come to find out that what they are dealing with, other people have dealt with, and they are not alone," she said.
Because of the challenges of their mental illnesses, some members of the CRO have lost touch with their families. The CRO hosts holiday events and birthday parties. The center has even hosted memorial services.
Without High Plains Independence, some of the organization's members would be in Larned State Hospital or maybe not taking their medication, Anderson said.
Anderson noted that hospitalization or jail is much more expensive than the support services provided by CROs.
Although High Plains Independence does not require its members to take medication or engage in other mental health treatment, it encourages its members to do what they need to do to maintain mental health.
"If I ask someone if they have taken their meds this morning, it's not from an authority. It comes from a peer or a friend," Anderson said.
Anderson also gives quarterly presentations about her lived experience of mental illness to professionals who work in the mental health field so that they can earn their continuing education credits.
How the community can help
"I'm asking the community, at least funding-wise, to help us for the next three months," she said.
Donations can be sent to High Plains Independence at PO Box 956, Hays, KS 67601.
"If we had the money, we could stand on our feet, and it would be a support to know our community cares about us," she said.
Anderson said the High Plains Independence has been invaluable in her recovery from major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I learned that I could teach, on certain topics that I am educated," she said, "that I have a purpose, that I enjoy helping other people and that I enjoy helping people grow."
"I just feel this is going to kill me," Anderson said. "We just can't close. ... What are people going to do if they don't have this place to come to work on recovery?"
Financially, without her part-time income from High Plains, she said would have to find another home for herself and a 12-year-old child in her custody.
"I would feel like a failure even though it was because of circumstances beyond my control," she said.
Others who depend on High Plains Independence
Linda Beagley has been a member of High Plains Independence for years. She has a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Since her Alzheimer's diagnosis, she said the support she received at High Plains Independence has become even more important.
"I still have problems with depression," she said. "You feel alone and like you are the only one, and then you come out here and you realize that no, you're not the only one. There are other people who are struggling like you are.
"You see how strong they are and how well they are doing, and then there may be a time you can be strong for them."
Another regular member at the CRO has been sober for eight months. He has a dual diagnosis of major depression and substance abuse disorder.
The 53-year-old, who asked that his name not be published, said this is the longest that he has been sober without being in a treatment program in his adult life.
Phyllis Park, who has a diagnosis of bipolar and schizoaffective disorder, recently made an attempt on her life. Anderson and a longtime CRO member, Shad Jay, sat with her at the hospital.
"Everybody's support is so essential for me right now," Park said. "I need it and they're there."
Although Park is taking some time off now, she has worked for four of the five years she has been a member at High Plains Independence.
"These people are my family," she said. "I have a bond with them, and I don't want to let them down.
"I couldn't make it if I didn't know I had this stability to refer back to, to come and be accepted, and to be loved and cared for and sometimes corrected. Sometimes I need that," Park said.