Nemours Children's Health received a commitment of $250,000 from NRG to improve the well-being of children with behavioral health challenges by reducing barriers and facilitating long-term access to treatment. Funds will be raised through NRG’s Choose to Give program, which has been giving its customers the opportunity to support local nonprofits since 2017. Nemours Children’s has received $200,000 to date as a beneficiary of Choose to Give.

“Nemours Children’s Health is thankful to be a part of NRG’s Choose to Give program for the past five years,” said  Executive Vice President, Chief Executive, Nemours Children’s Health Delaware Valley Operations Mark Mumford said in a statement. “This partnership has provided critical funds for patients and families to grow up happy and healthy. However, we are humbled and appreciative of the growth of our partnership and NRG’s most recent pledge of an additional $250,000 in support of expanding behavioral health services at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware.”

According to the U.S. surgeon general, before the pandemic, as many as one in five children ages 3 to 17 had a mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral disorder. However, last year, Nemours Children’s recorded an 80% increase in patients seen for suicidal ideation or intentional self-harm when compared to 2020. This growing nationwide issue led the U.S. surgeon general to issue the first-ever public health advisory on the youth mental health crisis. The advisory signified the immediate need for more resources to care for our most vulnerable children.

Nemours Children’s’ partnership with NRG will help fund initiatives for children experiencing behavioral health crises. The funding will directly support a phased approach focused on increased integration of mental health services into primary pediatric care settings. This approach will include detection and prevention through early screening and therapeutic interventions, paired with scaled access through technology and telemedicine. With NRG’s substantial help, Nemours will increase access and awareness to behavioral health services for children across Delaware.

“Our longstanding partnership with Nemours is extremely important to us because it allows our customers to support the great work of Nemours by simply doing something they already do, use electricity,” Jordon McConnell, VP of Sales, NRG Home East, said. “We are especially proud that the contributions will be dedicated to helping children and their families tackle mental and behavioral health issues, to ensure children are healthy in body and mind.”