A partnership between Wichita State University and the University of Kansas is designed to help new mothers improve their mental health and prevent suicide. 

For more than a year, HOPE kits, from WSU’s Health Outreach Prevention and Education Services, have helped people deal with mental health crises. Wichita State is taking that successful program and adapting it to the perinatal population with Growing HOPE kits, in coordination with the Center for Research for Infant Birth and Survival (CRIBS) at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita.  

“We’re really excited to partner with Wichita State,” said Dr. Cari Schmidt, director of CRIBS. “We know that mental health challenges during pregnancy are one of the top complications that we see. Finding support for our families through this partnership and being able to provide our Growing HOPE kits is crucial to supporting their mental wellness and connecting them to resources.” 

In September in the Student Wellness Center, six Wichita State students and several faculty and staff members assembled around 1,000 kits (250 designated for the Growing HOPE project), aided by grants from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services and Aetna Community Cares/CVS. 

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The HOPE kits contain items such as locking caps for medication, gun locks, materials that destigmatize mental health, pamphlets with contact information for resources, coloring pages and pencils, a journal and more. 

“This is a project to give a tangible box of resources to people who are coming out of crisis,” said Abigail Rees, a junior psychology major and a prevention ambassador for WSU’s HOPE Services. “I love being able to work for HOPE Services. I have a heart for prevention, and I think it does so much good.” 

In 2015, WSU began to develop the Suspenders4Hope program to promote mental health wellness, prevent suicide, substance abuse, and sexual violence. In 2023, the program distributed HOPE kits to people who screen positive for suicidal ideation at the Student Wellness Center and the Sedgwick County Community Crisis Center COMCARE. 

“Some of these people may not have someone they can ask for help, or find a way to get help,” said Matt Dixon, senior psychology major and HOPE Services student worker. “These boxes are an effort to give them a little help.” 

Dixon helped organize the materials for the kits. 

“It feels good to be part of something bigger than myself,” he said. “These go out to so many people.” 

HOPE kits are intended to help people between the time of crisis and the start of treatment. 

“Our students have been amazing in this process,” said Marci Young, director of HOPE Services. “They’re learning a lot of practical skills, but I think the most important thing they’re learning is that you can make a difference in your community. Every single one of us can.” 

Sedgwick County’s COMCARE has used HOPE kits since the program’s start. The behavioral health center works with people of all ages in self-identified crisis. COMCARE clinicians incorporate the HOPE kits into safety planning. 

“It’s incredibly helpful to be able to give somebody something that is tangible that they can take with them when they’re leaving here, instead of just a conversation and then they’re out the door,” said Tauni Nank, program manager for COMCARE. “Journaling is a coping skill. It’s getting those thoughts out of their head. Get it out onto a piece of paper, so they can let it go.”