Nov 11 Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Staunton Farm Foundation
The Leader Times – Grant to enhance School Based Counseling Program for students and families in the Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Greensburg.
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Staunton Farm Foundation, a Pittsburgh based charitable foundation that funds innovative projects designed to expand access to mental health and substance use disorder programming.
Funding from the grant will be used to enhance the School Based Counseling Program for students and families in the Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Greensburg.
The program, a collaboration between Catholic Charities and Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Greensburg began last year. Managing director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg Melaney Hegyes said the generous grant from the Staunton Farm Foundation will give the organization the ability to provide additional resources to school counselors working in the Catholic Schools.
“We will be able to provide additional training, administrative and material support to our counselors so that they are better equipped to address social-emotional stressors among students and families,” Hegyes said. “Counselors in our Catholic Schools are able to work with students and their families which helps to maintain attendance and fosters a successful school environment.”
Hegyes adds that school counselors can offer immediate relief to distressed students when they are struggling at school.
“On-site services eliminate the barriers of transportation, and the stigma often associated with utilizing mental health services,” she said.
Robert Baum, Director of Counseling Services for Catholic Charities, notes that an estimated 30% of school-aged children will experience a behavioral, mental, or developmental issue in any given year.
Nationally, one in 10 young people who are covered under private insurance do not have coverage for mental or emotional difficulties.
More than one in 10 young people in the U.S. experience depression that severely impairs their ability to function at school, work, or home, or in their social lives.
“The counselor’s focus is to assist all students in acquiring skills they need to be successful, such as interpersonal skills. This grant will provide our counselors with additional support to assist the student’s efforts toward mastery of these skills and growth in self-sufficiency as they mature to graduation,” Baum said.
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg was established in 1954 as the primary social service arm of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Greensburg and is rooted in the Gospel and social teaching of the church.
Our mission is to serve the human needs of individuals and families, regardless of their religious affiliation, and to provide leadership in building collaborative efforts with parishes and communities in addressing these needs.
The Staunton Farm Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of people who live with mental illness and substance use disorders.
The Foundation works to enhance behavioral health treatment, support, and recovery through grant making to nonprofit organizations in 10 southwestern Pennsylvania counties (Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmoreland).