Students at Virginia Tech may soon help fill a critical need for qualified mental health professionals in Southwest Virginia, thanks in part to a federal grant.
The counselor education program received a $1.4 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to help train counselors to work with underserved communities.
As part of the four-year grant, seven master’s degree students who work with underserved populations during their internships and plan to continue to work with those communities after graduation, will receive a $25,000 fellowship.
The grant will also provide funding for networking opportunities for the students to attend conferences and other professional development conferences.
“Growing up in a rural Appalachian community, I’ve seen firsthand how often these areas feel forgotten when it comes to resources and mental health care,” said Ashley Wyatt, a student from Russell County who is an intern at Radford University Carilion in Roanoke. “This grant not only eases some of the financial burden for me as a student, but it also allows me to focus on training to be the kind of counselor who can go back and serve the people I love.
“For me, it’s about giving back to the communities that raised me and showing them they aren’t invisible. They matter and deserve quality care.”
According to the Virginia Health Care Foundation, 93 of Virginia’s 133 localities are designated mental health professional shortage areas. Also, behavioral health professionals are aging, with many nearing retirement. For example, 61 percent of psychiatrists in Virginia are age 55 or older.
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In a previous interview with AFP, Valley Community Services Board Executive Director Kimberly McClanahan said staffing is an issue for both mental health mobile response and hiring for a crisis receiving center that will open in 2027. She thinks part of the problem is that mental health careers are not as lucrative as other choices that students have.
“I think until we put our money, in my opinion, where it needs to be, which is in human services and helping humans, then we’re going to continue to have that struggle, and particularly as people older like me, we’re graying out of the workforce, and as that’s happening, we are not being replaced with the young ones.”
VT student Abbey Lynch is an intern in Roanoke City Public Schools and selected to participate in the grant program.
“Being in a school is an opportunity to meet these students where they are and help them climb the ladder. That’s why I’d like to work with underprivileged students, because they are limited in the resources and support they have,” said Lynch. “If I can help be a small part of motivating students that they are more than the barriers they are facing, that has value.”
As part of the grant, new sites for interns will be identified in rural and high-need areas.
“We want to work across lines to tackle mental health in rural areas. Staying in our own silos isn’t effective for the people that we want to serve,” said Joanna Collins, assistant professor of practice in the counselor education program and the director of the mental health clinic at the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center.
The clinic gives counselors-in-training hands on experience by serving clients from the Rescue Mission of Roanoke and the Roanoke Diversity Center.
During the 2024–25 academic year, students provided more than 5,400 hours of pro bono counseling.
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Crystal Graham
