A behavioral health facility at St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud, Minn., has received a second $1 million gift from its top benefactor.
Mae Ellingson-Skalicky gave the lead gift for St. Cloud's behavioral health facility for adolescents around the time it opened in October 2004. St. Cloud named the facility Clara's House, after Ellingson-Skalicky's mother, Clara Ellingson. At Clara's House, adolescents can receive outpatient treatment for mental health conditions and chemical dependency.
Ellingson-Skalicky's new gift will help to fund an expansion of the facility. With a dearth of mental health services for teens in central Minnesota, Clara's House has a waiting list for its services. Administrators hope the expansion will help them to reduce patients' waits while also enhancing some of the therapeutic programs that Clara's House offers.
The facility is conducting a fund-raising campaign to raise an additional $700,000 for the expansion.
Ellingson-Skalicky said she supports Clara's House because her life's purpose is to help children in need. She said many children who suffer from mental illness self-medicate, including with alcohol and drugs. She said she is inspired to help these children because her mother dedicated her own life to loving and caring for children.
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