Munson Healthcare donates $7,500 for survivor mental health support

A $7,500 donation from Munson Healthcare is aimed directly at two pressure points in survivor care: mental health counseling and the physical spaces where people first seek help at the Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan’s Summit Park Drive facility in Petoskey.

Munson announced the gift May 19, saying the money will support expanded access to counseling services and improvements to survivor-centered spaces. For survivors, that means help is being steered toward the kind of day-to-day services that can determine whether someone stays connected to care, finds a private room to talk, or gets through the front door without having to navigate a hospital setting.

The Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan, known as WRCNM, provides confidential support, advocacy, counseling and Safe Home services across Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Emmet and Otsego counties. Founded in 1977 by a group of women responding to unmet community needs, the organization has grown into a regional survivor-response network with a long history in northern Michigan.

WRCNM says thousands of women and family members have been sheltered through its Safe Home over the years, with shelter, meals and daily needs provided at no cost. Its services extend beyond crisis housing to domestic abuse and sexual assault services, advocacy on medical, legal, housing and financial concerns, educational and employment services, children’s programming, violence prevention and community education.

Munson said the donation fits its Community Health Needs Assessment priorities, which focus on mental health and economic stability. That matters because the center’s work is not only about emergency refuge. It is also about helping survivors stay connected to care long after the first call for help, whether that means counseling, advocacy or a safer place to meet.

As northern Michigan’s largest and leading healthcare system, Munson says its charitable giving is meant to strengthen and expand programs and services while also investing in facilities and equipment. In this case, the donation is modest in size but targeted in purpose, aimed at a regional nonprofit that has spent nearly five decades building a practical support system for survivors.

For families in Traverse City and across Grand Traverse County, the gift is another reminder that survivor care in northern Michigan often depends on small, precise investments that keep counseling and refuge available close to home.