What 3rdchair does

3rdchair is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit mental health counseling organization headquartered in the BrassWorks building at 678 Front Street NW in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The organization delivers individual and group counseling to middle school, high school, and college students, young adults, and parents in the West Michigan region, with a non-clinical physical environment designed with youth input (couches, board games, coffee) to reduce stigma and improve access. Counselors are licensed clinicians (LMSW, LPC, LLMSW) plus supervised interns, recruited on a stated principle that all staff have personally navigated struggles similar to those of their clients, supplemented by a certified Animal Interventionist (Henry) offering animal-assisted therapy.

Service delivery is in-person at the Grand Rapids location and via the "Let Us Come To You" mobile presentation program, which deploys 30–45 minute talks to schools, colleges, churches, youth groups, fraternities, sororities, and workplaces. The technology stack is essentially absent: 3rdchair operates no proprietary platform, API, or mobile application, and counseling is entirely human-delivered.

The revenue model combines three streams: sliding-scale session fees under a pay-what-you-can policy (the organization does not turn clients away for inability to pay), insurance reimbursements from BlueCross BlueShield and Priority Health, and tax-deductible donations directed to a dedicated Financial Assistance Program. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, relying on word-of-mouth, institutional referrals, and recurring public-speaking engagements rather than paid acquisition or digital marketing. The organization is governed by a board of directors and advisory board, with no disclosed parent company, private equity, or venture capital ownership.

Name

3rdchair

Legal name

3rdchair

Website

https://thethirdchair.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

3rdchair is a Grand Rapids-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing sliding-scale mental health counseling and community presentations to middle/high school, college students, young adults, and parents in West Michigan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Grand Rapids

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Counseling Session Fees: Revenue generated from counseling session fees, with a sliding scale approach where clients pay what they can afford. The organization never turns clients away for lack of funds.
2. Insurance Reimbursements: 3rdchair is paneled with major insurance companies including BlueCross BlueShield and Priority Health, generating revenue through insurance reimbursements for covered counseling sessions.
3. Donations and Grants: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, 3rdchair accepts tax-deductible donations. Separate funds have been established to help cover counseling costs for clients who lack resources or insurance. Donations go directly to covering client sessions, not fixed costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

3rdchair provides individual and group mental health counseling sessions for middle and high school students, college students, young adults, and parents from its Grand Rapids location. Services address anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction, self-injury, eating disorders, grief, and relationship struggles, delivered on a sliding-scale basis with insurance accepted and no client turned away for inability to pay. The organization supplements direct counseling with traveling community presentations and a donation-funded financial assistance program.

Product overview

3rdchair is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit mental health counseling organization operating from the BrassWorks building in Grand Rapids, MI. The organization provides a unified suite of counseling services centered on individual and group therapy sessions for youth aged middle school through young adulthood, supplemented by a traveling educational presentation program and a financial assistance fund to ensure access regardless of financial situation. The three offerings function as an integrated ecosystem: the core counseling services provide direct therapeutic support, the 'Let Us Come To You' presentations extend community outreach and mental health education, and the financial assistance program removes cost barriers to accessing care.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Actors' TheatreminorStrategic or Co-development Partner3rdchair and Actors' Theatre have partnered in public discussions to create greater community impact. Actors' Theatre produces thought-provoking theatrical works on topics including psychological disorders, family relationships, and LGBTQ issues. The partnership creates community dialogue on mental health topics relevant to both organizations' missions.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mantra Health: Digital mental health provider purpose-built for college students, partnering with universities to deliver therapy and psychiatry on campus. Directly comparable in the college student segment and use cases, though Mantra is B2B/university-contracted and fully virtual.
• JED Foundation: National nonprofit focused on protecting emotional health and preventing suicide among teens and young adults, with programs in high schools and colleges. Directly comparable mission and audience (middle/high school, college students, parents) and similar nonprofit/donation-based funding model.
• Open Path Collective: Nonprofit network of therapists offering sessions at reduced rates ($30-$80) for clients who lack insurance or financial resources. Closely matches 3rdchair's pay-what-you-can / access-first nonprofit model, though Open Path operates as a referral network rather than an in-person counseling center.
• Ele's Place: Nonprofit bereavement support centers for grieving children and families, with locations including Grand Rapids. Comparable as a community-based nonprofit providing in-person counseling for young people and families in the same geographic region, with overlapping referral sources (counselors, schools, faith communities).
• Charlie Health: Virtual and hybrid mental health provider specifically targeting teens, young adults, and families with anxiety, depression, and substance use concerns. Directly comparable to 3rdchair in target population (high school / college / young adult) and presenting issues, though Charlie Health operates virtually and at national scale rather than in a single physical location.

Broad incumbents

• BetterHelp: Largest online counseling platform connecting users with licensed therapists via messaging and video. Competes for the same young adult demographic on affordability, accessibility, and stigma reduction, but operates purely remotely and does not specialize in youth ministry-style community engagement.
• Headspace: Mental wellness app offering meditation, therapy, and coaching for individuals and employers. Adjacent competitor for young adult users seeking accessible, lower-cost mental health support, though positioned as self-service rather than licensed therapy.
• Lyra Health: Mental health benefits platform providing therapy, coaching, and medication management through employer contracts. Overlaps with 3rdchair's payer mix (insurance reimbursements) but is a broad incumbent focused on workforce mental health rather than youth-specific nonprofit services.
• Talkspace: Online therapy platform serving individuals, couples, and teens via messaging and video. Targets overlapping segments (young adults, anxiety, depression, relationship issues) but is a broad incumbent with employer/insurer partnerships rather than a community-rooted nonprofit.
• Talkiatry: In-network psychiatry practice offering virtual and in-person medication management and therapy. Competes for insured young adult clients seeking accessible behavioral health, though focused on psychiatric medication management rather than youth counseling.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/3rdchairGR
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/third-chair

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 3rdchair