Pawnee Mental Health will celebrate 60 years with a Grand Finale Celebration in Junction City.

Executive Director Robin Cole said that Pawnee Mental Health services a 10 county area. “Geary County is one of the counties within the 10 counties that we serve, and so we started our celebrations in Concordia, the next week then moved to Manhattan and had a celebration last week and then Junction City and Geary County get the Grand Finale of celebrations.”

Cole said that in the last fiscal year, Pawnee Mental Health service over 7600 people in the ten county area – one of the highest numbers in the ten years Cole has been Executive Director.

“There have been periods of time in the last 60  years where the public has been more or less open to the idea of reaching out for mental health help…and being close to Fort Riley, that adds another element that other community mental health centers in other parts of the state might not see as clearly as we see here in Geary and Riley counties,” said Cole.

Cole adds that with increased stress and anxiety amongst other things, “community mental health [is being seen] as a viable resource for people who are experiencing emotional distress or psychological distress.”

The 60th Anniversary Grand Finale Celebrations will be Thursday, November 16th from 4:00 pm until 6:00 pm at Pawnee Mental Health located at 814 Caroline Avenue in Junction City.