Expanding access to mental health care
How we’re helping local clinics reach patients in need in their communities
Community Routes: Access to Mental Health Care—a partnership between Teva, Direct Relief and the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC)— is a unique access program that is helping to advance health equity and quality care for underserved populations across the U.S.
Through Community Routes, we’re helping provide access to medicines and behavioral health care to uninsured and underserved individuals with depression and anxiety seeking care at free and charitable clinics.
Launched in 2022, Community Routes provided an initial $2 million in grant funding over two years to support behavioral health services designed to meet the needs of the local underserved patient populations at select clinics in California, Florida, and New Jersey.
Today, the program is active across 10 states: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Florida, New Jersey, and California.
In 2025, we have committed an additional $2 million in grant funding over two years to support innovative behavioral health services at select clinics in Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas.
Community Routes fosters continuous knowledge sharing among grantees. A report created in collaboration with the original 11 grantee clinics outlines lessons learned and best practices in key areas, including bilingual and bicultural care, reducing stigma and providing low barrier care. The best practices report has now been shared across more than 1400 partner organizations.
Learn how Teva is supporting access to mental healthcare.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. in 2023 01 showed symptoms of anxiety, depression or both. More than 5.5 million adults with mental health illness in the U.S 02 are uninsured and unable to receive the care they need. Through this partnership we are helping to address the rising need for community-based mental health care for uninsured and underserved populations.
Impact of Community Routes
*Data as of year-end 2024
What Community Routes means to us
"Access to mental health care is critical yet distributed unevenly across the U.S. Direct Relief is proud to partner with the NAFC and Teva Pharmaceuticals in supporting community-based facilities to extend mental health care for those most in need."
-Dr. Byron Scott, CEO of Direct Relief
“We know that people living with mental health issues often face barriers to accessing care and support, and solving this challenge requires action from all of us. At Teva, we’re committed to supporting access with a patient-centric approach through Community Routes. Regardless of where you live or your socioeconomic status, we believe having access to quality care for mental health, or any other condition, should be a fundamental right.”
-Carol Richardson, ESG & Health Equity Lead, US, Teva Pharmaceuticals
“Through this program, clinics will be able to enhance and expand access to crucial mental health services for their communities. The NAFC is grateful that Direct Relief and Teva Pharmaceuticals not only recognize the barriers to care communities often face and the importance of mental health care, but that they also are taking steps to join with the NAFC and support our clinics on the ground to provide solutions and increased access to care.”
-Nicole Lamoureux, President and CEO, NAFC
“This grant has allowed us to provide psycho-educational materials in English and Spanish to our patients. These materials consist of booklets on various disorders of mental health – mental health wellbeing, stress reduction, and about depression, anxiety, trauma and grief. This has really helped us not only increase awareness among the populations, but also let our population know that we are available to provide mental health services.”
- Jose Perez, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Behavioral Healthcare Manager, Samaritan House in San Mateo, California
“The Community Routes: Access to Mental Health Care grant has impacted hundreds of our patients lives in an incredibly positive manner, through the provision of mental healthcare via medication, therapy at our clinic and the case management that our patients have been receiving.”
- Eryn Shugart, Executive Director, Savie Health in Lompoc, California
Industry Recognition: U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Citizens Award
Community Routes has been recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation 25th annual Citizens Award as the 2024 Best Health & Wellness Program winner.
The Citizen Award is a long-standing program that honors businesses for their leadership in solving the world's biggest challenges. This recognition, achieved in partnership with Direct Relief and the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC), highlights the power of collaboration in addressing the mental health crisis and bridging gaps in access to care.
“We are proud to recognize Teva for its leadership in addressing a critical issue facing too many communities. Through their partnership with Direct Relief and the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics to enhance mental and behavioral health care, they are improving the lives of countless individuals,” said Marc DeCourcey, SVP, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
Expanding access to mental health care
Our journey towards accessible mental healthcare
Learn more about where our team started and how far we’ve come as we continue to support and advance health equity for communities in need.
Teva's Global Commitment to Access
Improving access to quality medicines and helping build capacity in healthcare systems is part of Teva’s Healthy Future sustainability strategy, with a goal to better health worldwide. Community Routes is one of Teva’s commitment to at least eight programs launched worldwide to increase access to medicines for vulnerable populations, including programs in Malawi, Botswana, Uganda, Ghana, Israel and France. Teva leverages its portfolio, global footprint and experienced partners to get its medicines to underserved populations. Community Routes contributes to Teva’s Healthy Future Sustainability strategy reflecting our actions to care for people, the planet and our business at large.
Footnotes:
-
Back to contents.
Household Pulse Survey. (2020–2024). Anxiety and Depression. [Data set]. CDC National Center for Health Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/mental-health.htm
- Back to contents.