Wellspring

Wellspring strives to lead our community in developing housing, providing evidence-based treatment and strengthening recovery for adults with mental illness. Learn more about the lives your Give for Good gift touches at WellspringKY.org.

This year, Wellspring will help more than 1,600 adults with serious mental illness in our community. 

We are celebrating 30 years of our Crisis Stabilization Units, read more about them below:

30 Years of Crisis Stabilization Units

This year, we celebrate a major milestone for unique mental health services in the Louisville region! Wellspring's Crisis Stabilization Units (CSUs) have been an important part of our community since 1995 offering life-saving mental health services to adults experiencing acute psychiatric symptoms. For three decades these unique programs have provided critical, short-term, residential care, often preventing the need for hospitalization and we are proud to celebrate this anniversary with an effort to raise $30,000 in honor of the community members and importance in the Louisville region.

Wellspring's CSU services began with the opening of The Frank Gaines Center in 1995, which was Kentucky's first residential, community-based crisis stabilization unit. Named for Frank M. Gaines, M.D., who was Kentucky's first Commissioner in the Department of Mental Health and who is credited with bringing psychiatric medications into the state hospitals in the 1950's. This pioneering facility marked a novel approach to mental health care, offering a more compassionate and focused alternative to inpatient hospitalization.

In 2007, after the tragic death of David J. Block, Wellspring expanded its reach with the opening of a second CSU, doubling the organization's crisis stabilization capacity. Named in memory of David Block-who died by suicide in 2005, the new CSU added eight more beds that provided intensive clinical services in a flexible home-like environment. David had been an excellent student and champion Trinity High School athlete who first experienced mental illness during his college years. For twenty years, David battled with severe and persistent mental illness; he became a significant advocate for persons with a mental illness and a playwright who wrote about his experiences within the mental health system. David's father, Bernie Block, explained how his son's life and death made a difference in expanding CSU services "My son had been doing pretty well in recent years; however, he had a psychotic episode in February 2005. University Hospital was full, but he agreed to go to the Wellspring CSU. However, not one of the eight beds was available immediately. Two days later, on February 17, 2005, David was pulled unconscious from the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tennessee, after a witness saw him jump off a bridge. He died at age 44, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center." Because of this experience, Bernie Block, a retired Executive Vice President of the Courier-Journal, advocated for and lobbied state government to fund the opening of a second Crisis Stabilization Unit in Louisville.

In 2014, Wellspring renamed its first CSU, The Samuel B. Todd Center, to honor the son of one of Wellspring's founders and a former client who experienced eight psychiatric hospitalizations before finding healing and stability through Wellspring. His story is a powerful reminder of the impact that recovery-oriented, person-centered care can have on someone's life.

Since 1995, Wellspring's Crisis Stabilization units have served more than 10,000 individuals (as of May 31, 2025), offering a path to recovery through 24/7 support, clinical care, and an environment of dignity and respect. These accredited programs are consistently recognized and set the standard for community-based mental health crisis response.

Through innovation, compassion, and unwavering commitment, Wellspring's CSUs continue to transform lives--providing a vital safety net for Kentuckians in their most vulnerable moments.

We invite you to support the CSU's continued work with a special anniversary gift in our 30 for 30 campaign with a goal to raise at least $30,000 by September 30th in honor of Wellspring's CSU history and current programs.

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Who We Are

Wellspring promotes mental health recovery and supports individuals in building healthy and hopeful lives through behavioral health, housing and employment services. Wellspring is a leader in mental health recovery in the Louisville. We provide behavioral health services, supportive housing, employment services and case management. We will serve more than 1,100 adults with serious mental illness this year.