CFAR December 2024 Newsletter

As the year comes to a close, CFAR is asking our friends and supporters to take a moment to donate in honor of our 30th Anniversary. Our work to strengthen relationships has made a huge impact on the clients we serve. By developing the skills around healthy relationships, CFAR empowers people to be more successful members of their families, and of their communities on the whole. The value and impact of our work is immeasurable. We look forward to spending the next 30 years strengthening our most vulnerable communities, and impacting Philadelphia on the whole. You can help us make that happen.

Together Through Trauma (TTT) has had quite a year of growth as the program gained recognition and trust in communities most impacted by gun violence. The mental health services TTT provides continue be in high demand, as so many vulnerable Philadelphians are struggling with the trauma of incessant violence in their communities. TTT assures that these majority Black communities receive culturally competent services from therapists of color, and that they feel safe and heard. This is one of the reasons TTT is so critical to the network of programs dedicated to ending community violence. And this is why we hope you will support CFAR with a donation as the year comes to a close. We look forward to sharing TTT impact stories with you in 2025!

As we continue to hear more about the risks that our immigrant and undocumented communities will face in the coming months, we know that we must grow our Children Deserving Services (CDS) program. The already-high levels of stress and anxiety these communities struggle with has grown worse with every passing day, and mental health resources for them are very limited. Please support our programming by donating at cfarcounseling.org/donate, or reach out if you know of grant funding that will allow us to expand these critical mental health supports. CDS can be reached at 215-537-5367 ext. 4004 or cds@cfarcounseling.org.

Philadelphia Alliance for Child Trauma Services (PACTS III) wants to learn whether people who have upsetting or scary experiences are helped by therapy, and CFAR is helping them find participants.

PACTS will have two different groups of participants: (1) youth 11 to 21 years old will answer questions about themselves and (2) parents/guardians of youth 3 to 10 years old will answer questions about their child. If you decide to participate you will be asked to do three 1-hour surveys with a research team. They will ask questions about thoughts, feelings and experiences. You can choose to do the surveys in-person at the therapist’s office, on Zoom, or by phone. Participants will receive up to $75 in gift cards for completing all three surveys.

Please call Kristin Brown at (610) 519-4906 or email kristin.o.brown@villanova.edu for more information.

This has been an incredible and fruitful year for CFAR! Highlights include: rolling out infrastructure building thanks to a Pew Grant, hiring some key leadership staff, celebrating our 30th Anniversary with a beautiful breakfast event, continued expansion of our Together Through Trauma program, building incredible strategic partnerships, receiving some wonderful new grants, expanding our office space, expanding our team of therapists, and increasing the number of clients we serve. You can read more about our year at www.cfarcounseling.org/news through news posts and our newsletters, and make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to stay updated about our incredible work. Thank you for being a part of our community. We wouldn’t be where we are without you.