BRIDGES TO A NEW DAY NFP

Our focus is on providing a family system approach to counseling, so all family members are assigned the same counselor. We see people of all ages including families with very young children and older adults. The majority of people that are in the program are adults with depression issue that many times are related to job issues; families with children who have school behavior issues; clients with anxiety issues; families adjusting to divorce and other life stress. Many times, the issues have so affected the person that they are unable to function at either work or school. The Pandemic has place already stressed families under additional stress which is causing many to poorly function at work or school or just in their lives. The toll on our family’s mental health is great and more need counseling than ever before.
Domestic Violence Program
Our domestic violence counseling program is staffed by trained, certified and licensed counselors. Counseling services are provided strictly for victims and their children. These free services focus on empowering women to achieve their goals and overcome the trauma they experienced.
Darlene’s Program
A reduced fee counseling service designed to help bridge the gap for client’s who do not have resources to obtain counseling. We refer to this program as Darlene’s program in honor of a former board member who was instrumental in the founding of the agency. These services are geared towards low- and moderate-income level clients. Client must provide proof income. And at least one of the following: have insurance deductibles that cannot reasonable be met within 6 months; be a veteran; a high school student (with parental permission but refusal by parent to pay for counseling) is paying the cost of his/her sessions; no health insurance coverage and other circumstances that the Executive Director deems appropriate for this program.
In school group program: We have provided in-school social/emotional groups at local schools. Yearly, about 40 children participate in these groups. They are referred by the school social worker and are not eligible for school social work services. These groups focus on bullying; self-esteem; making friends; feelings; how to handle anger; conflict resolution and more.
Insurance Based Counseling Program
Different from Darlene's program, this program does accept insurance re-imbursement. We do not seek donations for this program.
Program Achievements and outcomes
The substantial growth of our programs is a huge achievement; we have been providing services for over 17 years. Every year, we have increased the number of service hours and the number of clients served. We have served over 4,000 adults and children in the past 17 years. Last year, provided 3 groups of after school programs at 3 different schools as well as a summer program for those same schools. This was in addition to the groups provided at local elementary schools. Prior to the Pandemic, we were at 5 local elementary schools with at least 3 groups that lasted 10 weeks. The achievements in the school groups are reflected in our client’s progress such as children learning to make friends or deal with bullying; a child who is struggled in school is thriving. Many of our client’s achievements cannot be quantified: a father learning to function after a job loss; a mother learning to cope after the loss of her husband; a child sharing his worries with his parents; or a teenager dealing with her current home life so that she can go on to be a positive member of society. The Pandemic has greatly affected the agency both financially and in the increased number of people requesting our services. We have responded to the request by adding additional hours, providing both in-person and telehealth services. But the added cost has placed an additional financial burden on the agency, so we are seeking new sources of donations while maintaining our current donors. We appreciate any and all support that we receive from donors.