After collecting dust in a bank account for upwards of two years, more than $90,000 in donations will finally be used to benefit mental health services in Chatham-Kent.
Chatham-Kent Health Alliance President and CEO Lori Marshall announced details of the hospital’s 2022-2023 capital budget on Monday, which totals $5.25 million.
One of the key investments budgeted for this year is $1.25 million for the construction of two new quiet rooms in the Inpatient Mental Health Unit, and the renovation of the two existing quiet rooms. Included in that investment is $54,000 that was raised through the grassroots fundraiser, Music for the Mind.
During its two-year run, Music for the Mind raised just shy of $92,000.
Of that total, $16,000 will also be utilized to purchase capital equipment for the unit, such as a ceiling lift, a washer and dryer and a storage unit. Another $10,000 will be used to purchase items to support patients, such as tablets, MP3 players, and sensory kits. The remaining $10,000 from the fundraiser will be held in reserve for the Mental Health Unit.
The use of the money raised through Music for the Mind has been the subject of a dispute between fundraiser organizer Elisha Banks and the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Foundation over the last several months.
Banks has told multiple news outlets that she had made it clear to the foundation that the $30,000 donated in February of 2019 and the $62,000 donated in 2021 were to go towards purchasing much-needed supplies for patients at the hospital’s Inpatient Mental Health Unit.
However, back in February, Banks accused the foundation of misleading her and those who donated to the fundraiser, after she discovered the donations were still sitting untouched in a bank account.
“I can now publicly state that the [majority of] funds raised through the Music for the Mind fundraiser are going towards the support of renovations of the two quiet rooms in the adult Mental Health Unit,” said Marshall on Monday. “This is a very important and much-needed initiative to enhance our mental health and addictions services.”
When contacted for comment on how the hospital chose to utilize the funds, Banks said she is no longer able to comment on the Music for the Mind fundraiser after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the foundation’s lawyers.
The letter, dated March 18, advised Banks to refrain from communicating with the foundation’s board, and hospital personnel, as well as speaking to the news media regarding foundation staff.
CKXS News contacted Foundation President and CEO Mary Lou Crowley for comment on the donation dispute in March, however, she said she could not speak about specifics for privacy and confidentiality reasons.
Crowley added that the foundation does not determine the timing regarding the flow of funds from the foundation to the hospital.
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CORRECTION: A previous version of this article indicated that the entire amount raised through Music for the Mind would be invested in the quiet rooms in the Inpatient Mental Health Unit. CKHA has since further clarified how the donations will be used in the unit. The above article has been adjusted to reflect the correct information.
