SK Wellness Receives $5,000 Grant from Washington Trust

South Kingstown – The Washington Trust Charitable Foundation recently awarded SK Wellness (SWELL) $5,000 to support its mission to provide mental health education and programming within the South Kingstown community.

SK Wellness is the successor organization to South Kingstown Partnership for Prevention (SKPP), which has provided substance prevention education to the South Kingstown community for over a decade. Formed in 2019, SK Wellness has taken the reigns to go beyond prevention and address the root causes of harmful behaviors by taking a holistic approach to providing the education and resources proven to reduce substance abuse, violence, and mental health issues.

“With our current federal grant funding ending this year, support from community members like Washington Trust is vital to our future success,” said SWELL Executive Director MK Whitten. “With this funding, we’ll be able to not only support our youth development and mindfulness programming within the SK schools, but expand them to reach even more students.” SWELL also provides mental health and substance abuse prevention education throughout the South Kingstown schools, runs community-wide drug takeback events, and offers community workshops and events focused on mental health and wellness.

Washington Trust has a long-standing history of providing funding and support to nonprofits in the communities it serves. It is dedicated to working together towards the common goal of creating a positive future for all. In addition to the financial support provided, Vice President of Cash Management Municipal Services Beth Frenette has assisted SWELL with the early stages of organizational development as well as consulted on fund development strategies. “They really have been exceptionally supportive in a variety of ways,” said Sonia Lacombe, director of development for SWELL.

ABOUT WASHINGTON TRUST
Founded in 1800, Washington Trust is the oldest community bank in the nation and one of the Northeast’s premier financial services companies. Washington Trust offers a full range of financial services, including commercial banking, mortgage banking, personal banking and wealth management and trust services through its offices located in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Washington Trust Company is a subsidiary of Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc., (NASDAQ: WASH). Additional information on Washington Trust and its subsidiaries can be found at https://www.washtrust.com/.

ABOUT SK WELLNESS
SK Wellness (SWELL) works within the South Kingstown schools and community to promote optimal mental health among the entire community through education and advocacy. They envision a society where mental wellness is the foundation of a healthy community and optimal health means making a commitment to care for mind, body, and spirit. SWELL works to achieve this vision through youth development programming, mindfulness education, parenting workshops, community events, and substance abuse prevention education. For more information about SWELL visit https://swellri.org.