Night of Hope

In 1988, Sharon and Dick's Lawrenz's 11 year old son was diagnosed with mental illness. The couple struggled through a cumbersome Mental Health System and as a result of those taxing experiences, Pathway To Hope became a reality.
They wanted to help other families. In 2000 Sharon and Dick made that desire into reality and founded Pathway to Hope. For 22 years we have strived to ensure that "No one should navigate the uncharted waters of mental illness alone." 

Mental illnesses are common in the United States. Nearly one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (52.9 million in 2020), and one in twenty live with serious mental illness. Nearly every person in this country is touched in some way by Mental Health and for decades the stigma of Mental Illness has prevented people from seeking the help they need. 

Pathway has served more than 4,199 community members facing serious mental illness. In 2020, Pathway served approximately 1,561 underinsured or uninsured community members. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pathway experienced a 500 percent increase in crisis calls from community members. Within a 3-month period, our staff conducted 55 suicide assessments. To keep up with the Kansas City metropolitan community's growing need, Pathway is continually strengthening its peer support programming. Our new Midwest Mental Wellness Center will include five private counseling rooms, classroom space for wellness classes and peer support groups, and a spacious area for our Clubhouse program to accommodate up to 250 individuals diagnosed with serious mental illness per day.

Now more than ever we finally have a chance to be seen, during a time where things in this world seem to be spinning out of control we need to join together and be a community.

Join us this October for our 8th annual Night of Hope, a night where we come together to show our support for an organization that has devoted over two decades of work to helping those most in need. 

And Now For Something Completely Different

We want you to know that we are always striving to improve our Gala and this year we have a lot of changes!

This year join us at the newly renovated Marriott in Overland Park! 

Also for the first time our event will be hosted by two of Kansas City's most recognizable people, KMBZ 98.1's Dana Wright, and her husband KMBC 9's Kris Ketz will be leading the charge to help us raise awareness for Pathway To Hope. 

Live music will be from the Brendan McNaughten band during cocktail hour.

Join us for another rousing rendition of a heads or tails raffle, a wine pull with fabulous wines form around the world, and of course our silent auction, with Golf excursions, hotel stays, Staycation packages and more!

FAQ's For Silent Auction

Watch a video from one of clients and see how Pathway to Hope Helps our community!