PITTSBORO, Ind. — A mental health and substance use service in Hendricks County is helping students hold onto hope in and out of classrooms.

On Tuesday, the Willow Center Community Director Chase Cotten put the final touches on nearly 2,000 mental health kits. Stressballs, journals and anxiety tools were tossed into blue and white boxes.

They’ll soon be in the hands of staff and students with the Brownsburg Community School Corporation.

“They’re a physical reminder that students are not alone,” Cotten said.

The kits have been in the works since January, when The Willow Center learned they’d be getting funding through Brownsburg's local opioid settlement grant. The goal is to give students a new sense of calm once they receive the packages.

“In the post-COVID era, our young people, our

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