Tribal Nation Donates to Save Mental Health Care Clinic

A $1.7 million donation from the tribal Citizen Potawatomi Nation has rescued a rural Oklahoma mental health treatment agency on the verge of collapse. The financial lifeline can save thousands of patients who depend on its comprehensive behavioral health services.

Gateway to Prevention and Recovery in Shawnee was the proud recipient of CPN’s donation. The city of Shawnee features several inpatient and outpatient facilities to address mental health, substance abuse and gambling addiction in this rural corner of The Sooner State. Gateway to Prevention and Recovery especially offers peer therapy and support services to residents, and this timely comes at the nick of time.

Indeed, the donation highlights a growing crisis facing behavioral treatment centers across the country as state funding continues to shrink. It’s only one case example that demonstrates how community partnerships can preserve vital care when government support fails. 

Mental Health Treatment Funding at Risk Statewide

The money can pay Gateway’s debt for its newly constructed facility after the expected state funding fell through back in 2025.

The funding gap forced Gateway to make painful cuts. Budget cuts forced Gateway to downsize staff and close a location in Seminole, a town with even fewer resources than Shawnee. Without the tribal donation, leadership feared they would be forced to sell their new Shawnee facility entirely. Doing so would have eliminated one of the few mental health treatment resources available in the region.

Jon Greenwood, CEO of Gateway, called the donation “incredibly generous.” He pointed out how the funds mean “the world to us. It means our mission and vision can still be accomplished.”

Rural Mental Health Treatment Facilities Matter

Gateway isn’t simply an addiction clinic. It’s a comprehensive behavioral health organization serving patients with mental health conditions and substance use simultaneously. Agencies like Gateway are often the only accessible option for individuals in rural communities who would otherwise face long travel distances or waitlists to reach care.

When mental health treatment facilities close or downsize, the effects ripple outward. Patients with these dual conditions lose access to the integrated care they need. Depression and drug misuse are often linked. Without coordinated care that addresses both conditions at once, outcomes worsen and the risk of relapse and overdose escalates significantly.

Treating addiction without addressing the underlying mental health condition or vice versa rarely leads to lasting recovery. Effective behavioral treatment centers use integrated approaches that combine psychiatric evaluation, behavioral therapies and peer support under one program.

Gateway’s model reflects this integrated approach. Its services span mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, and gambling addiction recovery. This multipronged approach positions it as a true dual diagnosis resource for Pottawatomie County and surrounding areas.

Tribal Partnership Demonstrates a Model for Behavioral Health

Under the agreement, Gateway will provide services to prevent and treat opioid use among Native and non-Native clients throughout Pottawatomie County and the CPN’s reservation.

The partnership has broader implications. Tribal nations across the United States have increasingly stepped in to fund and preserve behavioral health infrastructure in underserved communities. This donation demonstrates that tribal partnerships can effectively protect inpatient and outpatient mental health programs when state budgets fall short.

CPN Tribal Chairman John “Rocky” Barrett told reporters that the tribe is thrilled to ”provide the funding Gateway needs to continue to help people and families in our community.” He concluded that “tribal partnerships can benefit everyone.”

Finding Mental Health Treatment in Oklahoma

Gateway’s near closure is a stark reminder that access to mental health treatment facilities isn’t guaranteed, and that people need to know where to turn before a crisis hits. If you or a loved one has co-occurring disorders, comprehensive care is accessible and affordable.

Being OK in Oklahoma is achievable. Reaching out is often the first step. Call 800-908-4823 (Sponsored) for comprehensive mental health and addiction treatment resources or browse our directory for residential and outpatient centers across the nation.

Author

Courtney Myers, MS

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Courtney Myers has more than 15 years of experience in online writing and editing. Since graduating from N.C. State University with an MS in Technical Communication, she’s helped clients improve their visibility and reach through expert-level content creation. She specializes in addiction recovery and behavioral healthcare topics.

Editor

Peter Lee, PhD

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Peter W.Y. Lee is a writer and historian of American history during the Cold War. His primary focus is the relationship between youth and popular culture and its impact on U.S. society during the twentieth century. He has published widely on how the public has used popular culture as a mechanism to address political and social shifts throughout time