The U.S. simply does not have enough mental health professionals to meet the population’s need for treatment. Prevention of mental health and substance use conditions, our third pathway to mental health, will need to be a cornerstone of any sustainable effort to reverse the epidemic of distress and despair. We know more than ever about human development and the emotional, behavioral challenges and opportunities we face from infancy through our later years. At each stage of our lives, we can build knowledge, skills, and resiliency. We have models of early intervention that offer care at the first signs of distress, establishing a circle of care long before a person descends into despair and isolation. Many evidence-based prevention programs that can reduce the prevalence of problems like depression, suicide, serious mental illness, and drug use are available to health care systems, schools, families, and communities. The authors argue that we need to implement a comprehensive array of prevention services in every community. That requires that we become more creative in how we finance mental health services and, especially in the near-term, developing public/private partnerships to support prevention and early intervention strategies.