CFAR June 2025 Newsletter

We celebrated the opening of our new offices with a small Open House on May 30th. It was wonderful to welcome so many of our team, partners, and supporters and show them around our new spaces at the Project HOME Helen Brown Community Center in North Philadelphia. We were especially honored to have our founder, Maryann Volk, there to see how our services continue to be so important to the communities we serve.

This is a major milestone for CFAR, and we were pleased to have WHYY join us for the Open House. They highlighted the fact that, despite concerns around looming cuts, CFAR proudly moved forward with this expansion to help increase access to mental health services in an area of high need. You can read that article here: Philly health organizations partner to expand care, survive looming funding cuts under the Trump administration.

CEO Jordan Brogan joined The Alliance of Community Service Providers at the City Council budget hearing on May 14th to highlight the impact that potential Medicaid cuts will have on providers and the vulnerable Philadelphia communities we serve. It’s incredibly important that the City takes this into consideration when planning the FY26 budget, and CFAR is so proud to work with the Alliance to amplify our voices in these forums.

CFAR was honored to be chosen as a grantee by the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Philadelphia Chapter, and we look forward to receiving the award in support of our Children Deserving Services (CDS) program the fall! Our team enjoyed the opportunity to meet foundation board and supporters at the IICF Spring Gathering benefit event on May 21st (pictured.) With this grant, CDS will be able to serve even more youth with free therapy services, and the timing couldn't be better as the waiting list for the program continues to grow. Thank you IICF for helping us expand our CDS program to meet the needs of these vulnerable Philadelphia families!

Please save the date for our annual movie night at Pelbano Rec Center on Wednesday, August 6, 2025! We will have free snacks and water, some wonderful mental health resources, and a fun canvas mural project. The movie title will be announced shortly, but we know it will be a family-friendly hit. This is part of a series of wellness-related events that CFAR is holding to help support the communities in Philadelphia who are in need of mental health education and resources. If you are interested in supporting these events, please contact development@cfarcounseling.org or see the information below about our community wellness sponsorships!

The need for mental health education and support in our most vulnerable Philadelphia communities continues to grow every day. Center for Families and Relationships is working to address that need by running free programming and holding community wellness events in Philadelphia’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. Events include a spring North Philadelphia Community Wellness Day in spring with food, games, wellness activities, and resource tables; a Northeast Philadelphia Movie Night in summer with free snacks, mental health resources and screenings, and games; and a Fall Family Fun day to support youth and families as they are getting back into the school year with school supplies, resources to help youth manage mental health as they balance school and home life, general family wellness resources, and fun activities. WE NEED COMMUNITY WELLNESS SPONSORS TO SUPPORT THESE IMPACTFUL EVENTS! Not only will you be supporting the mental health and wellness of these vulnerable communities, sponsors receive wonderful benefits. If you are interested in becoming a Community Wellness Sponsor, please contact development@cfarcounseling.org, and visit our sponsor page for more information about the benefits.