Students at the welcome back picnic
Called to Be: Access & Excellence , Health & Environment

Alumna helps advance student mental health and wellness

 Kimberly Clarke (C'07, MA'09)
 February 20, 2025

A $1 million gift from the Ortus Foundation, founded by Sabrina Kuhl Gracias (B’93, Parent’27), will support the mental health and well-being of Georgetown students in the spirit of cura personalis, or care of the whole person.

The gift establishes the Ortus Foundation “Thriving at Georgetown” Current Use Fund and the Ortus Foundation Mental Health Initiatives Current Use Fund within the Division of Student Affairs.

At this pivotal moment of destigmatizing mental health, it’s an honor to work with Georgetown in its commitment to the well-being of students from all over the world and different cultural backgrounds.

Sabrina Kuhl Gracias (B’93, Parent’27)

With these resources, Georgetown will offer new suicide prevention training to help faculty, staff, and peer leaders identify struggling students; implement response measures; and research the well-being of young people who came of age during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An additional gift from the Ortus Foundation also bolsters the Residential Ministry Current Use Programming Fund, which helps residential ministers host weekly student gatherings, serving as an on-campus safety net and a community of belonging.

“At this pivotal moment of destigmatizing mental health, it’s an honor to work with Georgetown in its commitment to the well-being of students from all over the world and different cultural backgrounds,” says Gracias, who founded the Ortus Foundation to elevate support for youth mental health. The Ortus Foundation previously supported the building of The Wellness Hub Center, a space currently under construction dedicated to student mental health.

“The gift will enable us to take a population-based approach to mental health that reaches thousands of students,” says Student Affairs VP Eleanor J. B. Daugherty.

300+ community members received Georgetown’s LivingWorks Start suicide prevention training since January 2024

This story was originally featured in the 2024 Current Use Report. Current use gifts are an important complement to Georgetown’s endowment—and essential to the university’s growth and progress. These gifts from current use donors support, at the donors’ direction, everything from financial aid and scholarship, to new research, student retreats, and new facilities. The university relies on contributions from donors of all levels to enrich the experience of our students.