Grants totaling $18 million bring new names to Depression Center, Beth-El College

Gifts of $10 million and $8 million will boost the CU Depression Center at CU Anschutz and UCCS’ Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, new names for which will honor the family and legacy of Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson.

One of the nation’s premier research and clinical centers for mood and anxiety disorders will be immeasurably bolstered by the Denver-based Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation’s $10 million grant, one of the largest program gifts in the history of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

The commitment builds an endowment that will provide stable and perpetual funding — $400,000 the first year, likely more in later years – to support a broad array of mental-health program priorities.

To honor this gift, the CU Board of Regents during its meeting Friday at CU Denver voted to rename the seven-year-old center the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center.

Read more about the grant to the center here.

The regents also recognized the foundation’s $8 million grant to the Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and voted to rename it the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences. This is the first UCCS academic college to be named in recognition of a donor.

Nursing education and practice in Colorado and beyond will take a significant step forward following the gift, which will be placed into an endowment that should benefit the college in perpetuity.

Read more about the grant to the college here.

For the Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation, the gifts continue a legacy that began in 1948. That year, the Johnson family started a philanthropic tradition of thoughtful giving that has thrived for nearly seven decades and four generations of family members. Through financial support and strategic guidance, the private family foundation has helped hundreds of outstanding nonprofit organizations make a lasting impact in communities throughout Colorado and beyond. Click here for more information.

Since 1979, the Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation has provided $2.9 million in support for programs and projects of the University of Colorado.