.jpg "An aerial view of the old Biver farm shows the home that will become the new headquarters for Karla Smith Behavioral Health, along West Frank Scott Parkway West, across from Belleville West High School.")
An aerial view of the old Biver farm shows the home that will become the new headquarters for Karla Smith Behavioral Health, along West Frank Scott Parkway West, across from Belleville West High School.
Joshua Carter
Belleville News-Democrat
People were still talking about mental illness in hushed tones, and they barely discussed suicide at all in 2003.
That’s when Karla Smith, a 26-year-old college student diagnosed with manic depression — now known as bipolar disorder— ended her life. It left her Shiloh family devastated.
“(Karla) was very, very intelligent,” her father, Tom Smith, said at the time. “She was charming. She was beautiful. She was a superb writer. She was three classes away from getting her bachelor’s degree in English literature when she shot herself.”
Tom Smith, his wife, Fran, and Karla’s twin brother, Kevin, were determined not to let Karla die in vain.
They turned their grief into action, leading support groups, speaking at conferences and establishing the Karla Smith Foundation, later renamed Karla Smith Behavioral Health. Today, it provides outpatient mental health treatment to more than 600 people a year.
The nonprofit will take a giant step this summer, when it moves from an O’Fallon office building to a historic 7.65-acre farm, across from Belleville West High School.
“We were born in Belleville, and we’re returning to Belleville,” said Kevin Smith’s wife, Emily, who serves as executive director. “So we’ve come full circle, and this will be our forever home.”
This project is separate from a planned $30 million business and sports complex with flexible tenant spaces and an indoor soccer field that’s planned for 30 acres of farmland to the east.
This file photo shows Tom Smith and his wife, Fran, who is now deceased, in 2007, when they were preparing for a fundraiser for the Karla Smith Foundation, now Karla Smith Behavioral Health. At right is a photo of their daughter, Karla, who committed suicide at 26. Derik Holtmann 
Contractors are renovating a former farmhouse at the new Belleville location of Karla Smith Behavioral Health. That includes refurbishing the staircase, refinishing oak floors and using materials scavenged from other parts of the farm whenever possible. Joshua Carter Belleville News-Democrat Farmhouse being renovated
The white two-story farmhouse at 4204 Frank Scott Parkway West was built in the 1840s, according to Emily Smith. Owners later doubled the size and added a garage and antebellum-style columns.
Contractors and volunteers are renovating the home to create space for support groups, therapy sessions, tutoring, a resource library, child care, offices and a living room, kitchen and dining room for meals and other family activities. They’re refinishing oak floors, refurbishing the U-shaped staircase and installing new windows and cabinets.
“Nothing has changed structurally,” Emily Smith said. “We’re just doing cosmetic renovation. The bones of this house are just incredible.”
Eventually, the organization wants to renovate a 6,200-square-foot metal pole barn for special event rentals, a grain silo for a podcasting booth and other outbuildings for a gymnasium, yoga studio, “art barn” and farm store with a coffee shop.
Plans also include a pick-your-own lavender field and other vegetable and flower gardens, a honeybee colony and a walking trail with benches around a fishing pond.
The grounds will be maintained by volunteers and clients, getting older people out of the house, younger people off their electronic devices and others working as part of a team.
“Mental illness is not just a condition to be treated,” Smith said. “It’s learning how to live your life in a meaningful way with intent and purpose. We get better by feeling part of something.”
Emily Smith, executive director of Karla Smith Behavioral Health, stands in front of an outbuilding that will be used as an “art barn” at the organization’s new location on a former farm near Belleville West High School. Joshua Carter Belleville News-Democrat 
A red livestock barn and adjoining outbuilding are two of the historic structures on a former farm that’s being converted into a new Belleville location of Karla Smith Behavioral Health, which is moving from O’Fallon. Teri Maddox tmaddox@bnd.com Supporters buy property
The farm on Frank Scott Parkway West, formerly South 59th Street, had been in the Biver family since the 1920s, said David Biver, 77, of Freeburg, a farmer and managing partner of Biver Farm Family Partnership.
His grandparents, Cletus and Catherine Biver, who farmed with a wagon pulled by a team of horses, raised 10 children on the property, and David’s parents, Frank and Fannie, raised 13 children.
The partnership listed the home and 7.65 acres for sale in 2021, according to Zillow. The asking price of $599,900 gradually dropped to $399,900 over three years. Canning Properties paid $385,000 last summer, St. Clair County parcel records show.
“I still feel a little melancholy about it,” David Biver said last week. “It was the old homeplace. It was where my father grew up and where I grew up. But it was time.”
Jim and Julie Canning, both 69, of Belleville, worked in construction product sales before retirement. They’ve been big supporters of Karla Smith Behavioral Health for years.
The couple bought the Biver property specifically to renovate the house and rent it to the organization.
“We’ve seen the good that they’ve done, and how much they’ve helped people,” Julie Canning said. “And we knew Emily’s dream for how she wanted to expand.”
The organization has raised more than $450,000 for the expansion through a capital-funds campaign. Emily Smith said another $1 million would be needed to accomplish all the board’s goals.
The Biver partnership also is selling land for the business and sports complex, but that sale hasn’t been finalized. Developers said the project eventually may grow from 30 to 60 acres.
Belleville residents Jim and Julie Canning bought the old Biver farm on Frank Scott Parkway West to renovate the farmhouse and rent the property to Karla Smith Behavioral Health, allowing the organization to expand its outpatient mental health treatment. Provided 
Leaders of Karla Smith Behavioral Health hope to renovate this giant pole barn and rent it out for special events at a former farm that will serve as the organization’s new location near Belleville West High School. Teri Maddox tmaddox@bnd.com Seven years of struggle
Karla Smith grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where her parents lived before moving to Shiloh. Tom served as director of pastoral services for the Catholic Diocese of Belleville, and Fran was principal at Queen of Peace Catholic School.
Karla was known as an energetic, outgoing teenager active in student council, speech and drama. But her family noticed a change during her sophomore year at Oklahoma State University. Her energy level dropped, and she complained of not being able to write a book report.
“Within two months, she had dropped a couple of classes,” Tom said at the time. “She received incompletes in a couple more, and she ended up coming home without finishing the semester. She was very clearly in deep depression at that point.”
A psychiatrist prescribed medication, kicking off a seven-year period of ups and downs. Karla attempted suicide several times and stayed in a mental hospital briefly before her death by suicide on Jan. 13, 2003.
Tom Smith later self-published a book called “The Tattered Tapestry: A Family’s Search for Peace with Bipolar Disorder.” Fran died in 2022.
Over the years, Karla Smith Behavioral Health’s headquarters moved from Belleville to O’Fallon to Swansea and back to O’Fallon, most recently occupying the former city hall, built in 1890.
The organization treats people with anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental illnesses. It also offers life-skills training on everything from responsible social media use to feeding a family on a tight budget. Clients range from 13 to 87.
The organization traditionally has been funded by donations and sliding-scale service fees. Once operations move to the farm, it will begin accepting some commercial insurance.
“Our three objectives are affordability, accessibility and effectiveness,” Emily Smith said. “No one is turned away from Karla Smith. We’re trying to remove all barriers to mental health care.”
Althoff Catholic High School graduates and other volunteers remove old paving stones to create a garden at a former farm that’s being converted into the new Belleville location of Karla Smith Behavioral Health. Joshua Carter Belleville News-Democrat 
Contractors are renovating a farmhouse at the Belleville location of Karla Smith Behavioral Health, an organization that provides outpatient mental health treatment. The kitchen, complete with new cabinets, will be used for community meal preparation. Joshua Carter Belleville News-Democrat 
A former farm that will become the new Belleville location of Karla Smith Behavioral Health has a small grain silo that the organization’s leaders hope to turn into a podcasting studio. Teri Maddox tmaddox@bnd.com 
This outbuilding will be used as an “art barn” on a former farm that’s being transformed into the new Belleville location of Karla Smith Behavioral Health, an organization that provides outpatient mental health treatment. 
The former farm that will become the new Belleville location of Karla Smith Behavioral Health includes several outbuildings and a fishing pond, where a walking trail is planned. Teri Maddox tmaddox@bnd.com 
This upstairs room of a former farmhouse will be used for group therapy at the new Belleville location of Karla Smith Behavioral Health, an organization that provides outpatient mental health treatment. Joshua Carter Belleville News-Democrat
Belleville News-Democrat
A reporter for 40 years, Teri Maddox joined the Belleville News-Democrat in 1990. She also teaches journalism at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. She holds degrees from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and University of Wisconsin-Madison.