As Gallatin County continues to grow rapidly, the need for our no-cost, confidential services has never been greater. We’re excited to announce a major step forward in our mission: The purchase and renovation of the former Mental Health Campus in Bozeman. After decades of inadequate and aging facilities to provide our services from, this space will allow us to enhance our programs, support our dedicated staff, and serve the community more effectively.
OUR CHALLENGE
Our former headquarters, a small building from 1925, was no longer able to meet the demands of our growing service area. The cramped space limited our ability to provide quality care, with insufficient counseling rooms and crisis spaces. Additionally, some programs were housed in separate locations, leading to inefficiencies.
-
In the Fall of 2023, we officially launched the Answering the Call Campaign to humbly ask for our community’s support to help us with this goal. In March 2024, we closed on the 5.1-acre property in Bozeman, including five buildings, valued at over $5 million. Thanks to a generous agreement with Western Montana Mental Health and Bozeman Health, we acquired it for only $3.1 million. This campus will increase our space from 6,100 square feet to over 15,000 square feet, allowing us to better serve our community. The property also has two affordable housing buildings with ten units. These are being expertly managed by HRDC.
By expanding our facilities, we can serve our clients in a more welcoming and efficient space. This project directly aligns with our mission to provide essential mental health and crisis services.
-
This project will benefit our 13-county service area, with a focus on Gallatin County. Our target populations include individuals in need of mental health services, survivors of sexual assault, and families in foster or kinship care. In 2024, we served ~7,000 individuals through 15,000 contacts.
-
While the space is in good shape and built with mental health in mind, we had minor renovations to meet our program needs and refresh the space. Between March and Dec. 2024, we completed renovations on two of the buildings.
During Phase 1 Renovations, we created spaces that includes:
Crisis call center expansion
More mental health counseling rooms and more private spaces for therapy.
Collaboration and administrative office spaces.
Upgraded restrooms, including gender-neutral and family facilities.
Central gathering kitchen space for staff and volunteers.
Training and meeting rooms for support groups, trainings, and community education
Technology and furnishings to support operations.
Phase 2 Renovations began in Spring 2025 and will continue through the fall. This includes:
Gallatin County Child Advocacy Center (CAC) Renovations
Some highlights of this renovated space include:
In the new building, we will have two interview rooms, two observation rooms, and two family rooms, which will allow our team to run two interviews concurrently. This will enable us to provide timely services to families. After school time slots are often requested and in our current building, we can only accommodate one after school interview appointment a day. Additionally, the new CAC space will have two entrances for the family waiting areas to help ensure privacy for those coming to the CAC.
As much as we love our old space, it was not designed with its current use in mind. The new CAC space is being mindfully designed to meet the needs of the families we serve and our multidisciplinary team. One of these design features that has been a challenge in our existing space is ensuring auditory separation of the different spaces without needing to use tools such as sound machines to help mask conversations from one space to the next.
We are adding a medical exam space in anticipation of future use. This space could be used to do well child checks or forensic exams immediately following a forensic interview, so the family does not have to make an additional appointment, if medical programming can be coordinated. Well child checks are recommended for every kiddo who discloses abuse, even when the abuse is historic, to help reassure them that their bodies are safe and healthy.
Outdoor Programming
This property requires landscaping updates, therapeutic and active outdoor spaces:
-
A therapeutic vegetable and herb garden area to include raised garden beds.
-
The property borders the Highland Glen Nature Preserve, with the Wellness Trail located just out our backyard. We hope to establish a direct connection from the property to the trail, providing convenient access for clients, team members, and residents in the affordable housing units. Additionally, we plan to create internal trails between buildings to improve connectivity across the property.
-
The current landscaping on the property needs a refresh. Additional trees, shrubs, perennials, flowers, and landscaping materials are needed to bring the property back to life after quite a few years of neglect.
-
HCI has two programs that specifically serve children. A playground area would be used for therapeutic purposes as well as used by family members/siblings of clients waiting for their child to be seen by our staff. We hope to have a large playground in a common area and a smaller one near one of our children’s program buildings.
-
We are a dog-friendly place! A fence has already been installed, but items such as a dog waste station is needed.
-
Deck siding/banisters needs some TLC with sanding and staining.
-
Wendy Visscher was HCI’s Executive Director for 44 years and passed away in 2022. She made an indelible mark on the organization and so many in our community. HCI wishes to honor her with a beautiful seating/reflection area that looks out onto the Highland Glen Nature preserve that can be used by clients, team members and residents.
-
This garden will serve as a place where people can grieve, reflect, and connect with others who have experienced the loss of a loved one to suicide. HCI intends to collaborate closely with suicide loss survivors to ensure that the garden is meaningful and supportive.
Please Join Us in Supporting Those in Need in Our Community
From our earliest beginnings more than 52 years ago, the Help Center’s vital mental health programs, services for survivors of sexual assault, and supportive family services have been made possible only through our heroic team and the generosity of loyal partners, supporters, and friends. We have a bold vision to better meet our region’s unprecedented needs and to better care for those who care for our clients.
As Help Center, Inc. embarks on our next half-century of service across our existing 13-county southwest Montana region, we have summoned the courage to lean in and ask for what we need. We are confident in the positive impact we can and will have on our community as it grows. Humbly, we share that we believe we have what it takes to get this done, but only with the support of many.
Thank you for being there. I felt like my phone call was a turn-around point for me. I am hopeful for the first time in a long time.
-Crisis Line Caller
COMMUNITY RESOURCE CONNECTION
-
211 Information and Resources
Connects Montanans with resources and assistance from state and local health and human service programs.
-
Montana Mental Health Directory
Find a mental healthcare provider in Montana. Search on your own or call us at 406-586-3333 for assistance.
-
Follow Up Program
Provides consistent connection and support during times of crisis and assistance connecting to resources and long-term help.
-
Telecare Program
Offers regular check-ins from trained volunteers to elderly or homebound individuals for friendly conversation, medication reminders and support.
-
Suicide Loss Survivor Resources
Available 24/7 to support anyone impacted by losing someone to suicide. Call 988 or 406-586-3333, or find a support group.
Are You a Mental Health Provider?
Sign up to be included in our referral database or additional services.
Professional Standards
Our staff and volunteers complete extensive crisis intervention training, including Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). We are accredited by the International Council for Help Lines and Alliance of Information and Referral Systems.
