CFAR November 2024 Newsletter

In honor of Thanksgiving, our kind and generous CFAR staff raised funds to give out grocery gift cards to clients in need. This has become an annual tradition, and the clients are really grateful, especially as the cost of food has increased so rapidly.

The team is also working tirelessly to meet needs of the growing client base, especially as things have picked up since the start of the school year. We were excited to welcome some new interns, and we hope to welcome some new staff very soon!

Our TTT Teams are delivering a series of journaling workshops to help participants express their emotions in healthy and safe ways. The participants are able to privately write down their feelings, and are invited to share them verbally if they feel comfortable doing so. TTT Therapist Delicia McKinney (pictured leading a workshop) seeks to help the youth she works with become more comfortable with sharing their feelings by journaling alongside them and telling them about her own emotions and concerns. With growing stress around race and continued stress around violence in these communities, developing these skills is incredibly beneficial to the mental health of the youth and adults served by TTT. For more information about TTT please visit www.cfarcounseling.org/ttt.

CFAR is honored to serve the immigrant community in Philadelphia with our Children Deserving Services (CDS) program, which offers free mental health services to uninsurable youth. The clinicians in the program are all bilingual immigrants themselves, and they have a deep passion for the well-being of the communities they serve. With the rise in anti-immigrant sentiments, they are prouder than ever to be a part of such an impactful program. If you have questions about CDS services, please call 215-537-5367 ext. 4004 or email cds@cfarcounseling.org.

Our partnerships are the key to our success, and we are thankful to have a strong and long-standing partnership with Philadelphia Children’s Alliance (PCA.) PCA is the principal coordinator for the investigation of child sexual abuse cases in Philadelphia, and they rely on mental health partners to provide critical services to the child victims and families they serve. CFAR is proud to provide services to these clients, and we were honored to receive a PCA Mental Health Partner Excellence award due to our engagement of and commitment to the PCA families. Recently, some of our clinicians had the pleasure of attending the PCA Mental Health Partnership breakfast (pictured) and we look forward to growing and strengthening this partnership even further in the coming years.

This is the time of year that many of us think about the importance of our relationships, and how those relationships help us thrive. For the families we serve, building strong relationships is incredibly important, as they struggle with the stresses of poverty, intergenerational trauma, and so many other issues that become barriers to success. CFAR been helping families build strength and resiliency for OVER THIRTY YEARS, and we hope you will support our critical work with a donation today. Visit www.cfarcounseling.org/donate, or email development@cfarcounseling.org for other ways to support our work!