Samaritan Health and Living Center

The Samaritan Center is a community-based, interdenominational nonprofit organization founded in 1972 in Elkhart, Indiana, dedicated to providing professional counseling and compassionate support to individuals, families, and children under stress, with a mission to be an expression of the love of God through a ministry of helping people achieve healing, hope, and wholeness. Inspired by the vision of local physician Dr. Burton Kintner and supported by community partners like the Martin Foundation and NIBCO, Inc., the Center has grown from its origins in a church to its current facility at 311 West High Street, tripling its capacity to deliver thousands of hours of high-quality, evidence-based mental health services each year. Grounded in core values of high-quality care, compassion, dignity and worth of all persons, and respect, the Center employs a collaborative, client-centered approach that honors the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—integrating personal faith and spirituality when desired by clients. Services include tailored individual therapy using modalities such as Internal Family Systems (IFS), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Trauma-Focused CBT; couples therapy to foster deeper connections and resilience; specialized play therapy for children ages 3-12 led by certified Registered Play Therapists (RPTs) to address issues like anxiety, trauma, grief, and behavioral challenges; and group therapy options including DBT psychoeducation groups for skill-building in mindfulness, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness, as well as interpersonal process groups to explore and transform relational patterns in a supportive peer environment. Committed to accessibility, the Center offers fee assistance through dedicated funds like the Samaritan Fund for general support, the Silent Samaritan Fund for women, the Small Fry Fund for children, the Julie Fund for addiction recovery and youth prevention, the Jonathon Fund for adolescents facing depression, and the Couples Fund, ensuring that financial barriers do not prevent care for the underserved in the community.