Key Projects, Nick's Voice
Introduction
At Fore the Kids Foundation, we believe funding mental health care means investing in more than programs; it means helping build pathways to healing for children and families when they need it most.
Recently, some of our board members had the pleasure of visiting the Children’s Mercy + Camber Mental Wellness Campus to see Fore the Kids recognized on a permanent donor wall inside the center. Standing together in front of that wall was a reminder that philanthropy is not simply about putting a name on a project. It is about helping make something possible.
And this place is doing exactly that.
Since opening in December 2024, the center has served over 3,450 patients, providing specialized inpatient mental health treatment to children and adolescents in crisis. In response to growing community need, the wellness campus has expanded its focus exclusively to youth care, increasing capacity from 48 to 72 inpatient beds to help meet demand.
Meeting a Critical Need in Our Community
The need for youth mental health care continues to rise, and facilities like this exist to meet children and families at some of their most vulnerable moments.
The Children’s Mercy + Camber Mental Wellness Campus provides inpatient hospitalization for youth ages 6–18 experiencing mental health emergencies or urgent safety concerns. This may include young people struggling with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, trauma, or other acute behavioral health challenges.
Inpatient hospitalization includes:
- Full medical, clinical, and nursing assessment
- Intensive psychiatric care and medication management
- Individual, family, and group therapy sessions
- Case coordination
- 24/7 Support and supervision from our skilled nursing staff
- Innovative treatment and education on neuroscience and emotions
For Fore the Kids, supporting this work was about helping ensure children in our region have access to the kind of care they deserve, closer to home.
What This Support Makes Possible
When Fore the Kids contributed funding to this project in 2024, it was with the hope that our donors’ support would help provide additional space for children to receive the care they need, when they need it, not days, weeks, or months after sitting on a waitlist. Seeing the center now fully operational and serving thousands is proof of that impact.
“When my brother, Nick, was in high school, there was a time when he needed inpatient treatment for his depression, and while the place my parents found was okay, it was nothing compared to how incredible this Camber facility is. When I started working with Fore the Kids, I hoped that we would fund things that Nick needed so kids like him could get the support we didn’t have. The Children’s Mercy + Camber Mental Wellness Clinic is that place.”
Board Member, Fore the Kids Foundation
That is what this work is about.
It is about creating access. It is about meeting families in crisis with compassion. And it is about building something future generations can rely on.
If Your Child Needs Help
Fore the Kids Foundation is a fundraising mechanism that helps bring the care children need directly to our community. If your child needs immediate intervention in an active emergency, please go to your local emergency room or call 911. You can also call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
Families can also contact Camber Admissions directly to learn about the intake process and available support. Referrals may come from parents or guardians, physicians, schools, or mental health providers.
If you are looking to speak with someone about admissions into the facility, their front desk is open for calls 24/7 at (913) 890-7468, or head to cmcmentalhealth.org/#how-to-access-care and fill out the form online.
Conclusion
Seeing Fore the Kids recognized on the wall was meaningful. Seeing what that support is doing for children is even more meaningful.
More than 3,450 young people have already walked through the doors of this facility, and because of continued community support, many more will find healing here in the years ahead.
We are proud to stand alongside Children’s Mercy, Camber Mental Health, and KVC Foundation in supporting this work, and grateful to every donor, event participant, and advocate who has helped make investments like this possible.
This is why we fundraise.
This is why we partner.
And this is what impact looks like.
Nick's Voice
The past two years, through the Nick’s Voice Fund, “Fore the Kids” has devoted its resources to enhancing a school-based mental health initiative between Children’s Mercy and the Blue Valley School District as well as hosted the Nick’s Voice Community Report, a public forum featuring experts in pediatric developmental and behavioral sciences from Children’s Mercy and the Blue Valley School District.
Pediatric Psychologist Endowed Professorship Position at Children’s Mercy Kansas City
Through the Nick’s Voice Fund, proceeds from the 2018 tournament allowed for the creation of the Nick Timmons Endowed Professorship in Developmental and Behavioral Sciences. This endowed fund supports a new position to be used by the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Sciences to enhance research efforts to prevent suicide and treat anxiety, depression and mood disorders in the adolescent population. The first of its kind at Children’s Mercy, this endowed professorship position will allow the hospital and “Fore the Kids” to further enhance all efforts to address pediatric and adolescent mental health in our community.
The Division of Developmental and Behavioral Sciences is comprised of 52 child psychologists, 8 developmental pediatricians, and 7 child and adolescent psychiatrists. In collaboration with the Children’s Mercy Research Institute and Department of Pediatrics, we seek to expand upon existing suicide prevention clinical and research programs. The professorship will include community educational presentations and teaching/supervision of medical and psychology trainees through the hospital’s APA-accredited psychology internship, psychology and developmental-behavioral pediatrics fellowships, pediatric residency program, and psychology practicums.
In 2018, the Children’s Research Institute received $150 million from the Hall Family Foundation and the Sunderland Family Foundation. This funding is supporting the construction of a new 375,000 square foot research building (anticipated completion August, 2020), as well as extensive investments in faculty, staff, and programs, all dedicated to pediatric research. We have mature collaborations with more than 50 hospitals and academic institutions worldwide, and strong ties with regional partners such as the University of Kansas, University of Kansas Medical Center, University of Missouri-Kansas City, and Stower’s Research Institute, which provide a rich research environment and support for continued professional development.
About the Nick Timmons Endowed Professorship
- We have created a new position focused on seeing children AND researching and publishing the findings on how we can prevent suicide
- This will assist with the almost 2,000 referrals/month and help us educate parents and the community on findings for prevention
- This position is endowed and will forever be held at Children’s Mercy, in Nick’s name
- All publications and the title of the position will hold Nick Timmons name and be always referenced
- Endowed positions are high honors in academic medicine and make the position highly sought in recruitment
- Annual reports will be sent to the donor family on findings and developments by the position leader, in perpetuity
Professorship Qualifications
- Psychologists with an academic record in suicide related research
- position will entail clinical care, research, and program development
- an earned PhD or PsyD in clinical psychology or counseling psychology from an accredited college or university
- a completed APA-approved internship
- license eligibility in Missouri and Kansas
- a record of funded research and scholarly publication commensurate with an academic rank of Associate or Full Professor. Consistently ranked among the nation’s best children’s hospitals, Children’s Mercy integrates innovative clinical care, research and academic advancement to transform outcomes for half a million children in Kansas City and across the globe.
Nick's Voice
Written by Dr. Mike Artman, Senior Vice President and Head of Pediatrics at Children’s Mercy
I’m here to tell you that there is a serial killer on the loose in Johnson County.
This killer strikes every 4-5 days. Every 4-5 days someone dies at the hands of this killer.
In the first nine months of this year[2017], January through September, he has taken 63 lives in Johnson County. Some of you may know some of these victims – they are our children, teens, and young adults.
What’s more, we know the identity of this serial killer – his name is suicide.
So instead of suicide, if we knew there was an individual wandering the streets of our community randomly killing our children at the rate of 1 or more each and every week, we would be outraged. We would be shouting for help from the rooftops. There would be a very intense and loud call to action.
So why aren’t we clamoring to put a stop to this killer called suicide? Why are we silent? Where is the outrage? Why are we ignoring this threat to our children and family members?
I think there are two reasons: one, we are ashamed. There is still a stigma associated with depression, anxiety, mental illness and ultimately taking one’s own life. Two, it’s a very complex issue without simple solutions. But we have to start somewhere, and that start is right here, right now, today.
Thanks to the courage of Kevin Timmons and his family, we are all engaged in this effort. Your contributions and proceeds from today’s event will go to fund a pilot project between mental health experts at Children’s Mercy and the Blue Valley School district to develop a school-based approach to suicide prevention. We are still working on the details, but it will involve social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists in the schools and accessible by telemedicine. We envision a multifaceted approach that combines education and access to mental health professionals with a single focus to prevent suicide. And this is just the beginning. We will learn from this pilot project so we can scale up these efforts and make a meaningful and sustained impact on this epidemic locally, regionally and beyond.
Today everyone can be a part of our call to action – please donate today.
