Wayside Youth & Family Support Network Receives $3,000 Grant from the Frederick E. Weber Charities Corporation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 27, 2020
Contact: Michelle Hillman
Michelle_Hillman@waysideyouth.org
MEDFORD, MASS. – Wayside Youth & Family Support Network received a $3,000 grant from the Frederick E. Weber Charities Corp. The grant will fund two, multilingual clinicians at the Medford Housing Authority’s Willis Avenue Family Development.
Sixty percent of the 150 families with children under the age of 18 living at the Medford the Willis Avenue Family Development are of Haitian Creole descent. Wayside’s clinicians, who speak Haitian Creole, Portuguese and Spanish, will evaluate individuals and their families in their native language, increasing access and reducing shame often associated with mental health issues.
“Embedding a clinician at the Willis Avenue Family Development provides us with the opportunity to complete culturally responsive, in-person assessments and referrals for individuals and their families,” said Taiany Goulart, program director for Wayside Medford. “By providing clinical services by staff who represent the community and its residents’ native language, we are able to break down barriers that so often exist when families seek mental health services for their children.”
“The availability of clinicians, who are able to communicate with residents in the language that they speak and understand cultural differences, will promote communication around the subject of mental health and reduce the stigma that often is associated with it,” said Lisa Tonello, resident services coordinator for the Medford Housing Authority.
In addition to connecting with low-income residents who are often difficult to reach either because of a lack of transportation, daycare or the ability to take time off from work, the grant will also aid Wayside in strengthening its ties within the Greater Medford community.
Wayside’s Medford site opened in 2017 and provides community-based behavioral health services such as in-home therapy and family support in multiple languages. A family support specialist works with families to provide individual therapy, family therapy, skills training, care coordination and/or referrals to resources within the community. For more information about Wayside Medford, please call (978) 221-6923.
About Wayside Youth & Family Support Network
Founded in 1977, Wayside Youth & Family Support Network is a non-profit, nationally accredited human services agency headquartered in Framingham, Mass. that is dedicated to building Strength, Hope and Resiliency through its family-based outreach services, residential treatment programs and community-based counseling services to more than 5,000 children, youth and families throughout Central, Eastern and Northeastern Massachusetts. To learn more about Wayside, please visit www.waysideyouth.org.
