Dear friend,

Each year millions of Americans and American families struggle with mental health and addiction disorders. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reports that nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adults live with a mental illness (51.5 million in 2019), including over 13 million with severe mental health disorders. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reports that over 20 million American adults (aged 12 and older) battle a substance use disorder, with 2020 being the deadliest year for drug overdoses.

When looking at the reasons many people to not seek and/or receive professional treatment for mental health and addiction disorders, two things immediately come to the forefront:

1. The stigma surrounding mental health and addiction disorders; and 

2. The availability of professional services, specifically in rural and underserved communities.

By supporting the NBCC Foundation's scholarhsip and capacity-building programs, you can help bridge the gap in mental health services for underserved communities around the country and world.

I challenge all mental health counselors, counseling students, friends of the NBCC Foundation, and those who want to help provide more culturally competent counselors to our world to donate $8 to the NBCC Foundation as a part of the 8-for-8 Challenge. 

It is my hope that those who donate $8 (or more if you are able) will ask eight other people to donate $8 and so on.

All donations are tax-deductible and 100% of donations directly support the NBCC Foundation's Scholarship Program, which provides much needed educational funds to future counselors committed to bringing mental health resources to underserved military and rural populations. 

Please consider supporting this wonderful cause that I have been happy to be a part of for many years. 

Sincerely, 

Dr. Robert Horne

The NBCC Foundation works to improve the mental health of the underserved and never-served throughout the world by leveraging the power of counseling by strategically focusing resources for positive change. Scholarships, fellowships, and capacity-building grants, are our primary tools for accomplishing our objectives. The Foundations strategy is to award scholarships to individuals pursuing careers as professional counselors who are affiliated with high-priority populations and commit to serving them after graduation. Capacity-building grants fund expansion efforts to increase mental health resources in rural and minority communities where access to mental health care is extremely limited.

Since 2010, the NBCC Foundation has awarded over $875,000 in scholarships and over $9,000,000 in grant funded fellowships to master's- and doctoral-level counseling students committed to working with underserved communities around the world. 

Help us continue to support counselors and future counselors bridge the gap in mental health services for those most in need. 

To learn more about our programs and our current scholars and fellows, visit our website.