Clinic awarded funds for mental‑health services

Bethel Free Health Clinic in Biloxi has received new funding to expand free mental-health care for uninsured patients. (wlox.com) The award is part of a second round of grants announced April 14 by Direct Relief, Teva Pharmaceuticals and the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. Each of the 11 selected clinics and charitable pharmacies in Alabama, Mississippi and Texas is receiving $75,000. (nafcclinics.org) WLOX reported the Biloxi clinic will use the money to offer free mental-health services to patients. Bethel Free Health Clinic is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. (wlox.com) Bethel Free Health Clinic provides no-charge care to people who do not have access to basic medical services. The clinic’s website says it focuses on patients who cannot afford care elsewhere. (bethelfreeclinic.org) The new grant comes through Community Routes: Access to Mental Health Care, a program built to add counseling, screening and other behavioral-health support at free and charitable clinics. Direct Relief said the program is aimed at medically underserved communities. (directrelief.org) The funding follows an earlier expansion of the same effort. Teva, Direct Relief and the clinic association said the program launched in 2022, and Teva added another $2 million in 2024 to continue it. (markets.businessinsider.com) Program organizers said 2025 grantees reached more than 57,000 people, completed nearly 6,000 depression and anxiety screenings, and trained more than 260 providers in behavioral-health integration. Those numbers help explain why clinics like Bethel are being funded again in 2026. (markets.businessinsider.com) For Bethel, the immediate change is practical: more money dedicated to free mental-health treatment at a clinic already serving patients outside the traditional insurance system. The broader grant program says the next step is expanding access in communities where clinics report demand already exceeds capacity. (wlox.com)