Toulon native Lisa Ellis admits she's experienced depressing lows because of her bi–polar disorder.

"Keeping everything bottled up inside, then you come to your breaking point, you can end up in the hospital for it," she said.

Ellis is not alone.

Five years ago the small community experienced five suicides and a violent shooting spree within one year. That's when resident Don St. John decided to start a mental health task force to help.

"We started out as a group of just about 7 or 8 and that has now expanded to, I don't know the last count, as many as 60 or 70," said St. John, a local farmer.

The group petitioned the state and received $150,000 for a therapist and mental health advocate and they were successful.

Stark County health officials say the response has been overwhelming.

"Right now the therapist sees a case load of about 60 people on a monthly basis, for a population of about 6,000, for her to be seeing 60y people is just amazing," said Gail Ripka with the Henry and Stark County Health Departments,

But if the state can't fix its budget woes by midnight Tuesday, 100 percent of the Stark County Mental Health Initiative's funding would disappear.

"We're going to be right back to where we were 5 years ago," said St. John.

Back to a time when Ellis says this small town, like many, had a stigma against mental illness.

"It just took it away, people now know how to handle people with mental illness," said 48-year-old Ellis.

"We're hoping, you know it is a gloomy day in more ways than one gloomy because of our financial situation, and you know the weather doesn't look too nice either," said St. John.

Ellis says she hopes the state cuts don't happen, so her gloomy days don't return.