LANCASTER, PA – The Touchstone Foundation has awarded their Children’s Behavioral Health Grants. This year the Touchstone Foundation has awarded $55,000 to 5 local organizations to increase accessibility and equity to youth mental wellness resources in Lancaster County.
Touchstone Foundation’s Children’s Behavioral Health Grants provide an opportunity for Lancaster County organizations to receive funding support for programs that help remove barriers for families and young people when accessing mental health care. Examples of barriers include locations where mental health services are provided, transportation, language barriers, cultural sensitivity, and trauma-informed mental health care.
Shanece Bowman, Touchstone Foundation’s Program Manager said, “I have been managing this program since 2019 and am thrilled to be able to continue to support the awarded organizations who are exemplifying the need of visibility and program access to support the community through education and mental health services.”
The Bench Mark Program serves youth in Lancaster County through physical wellness programs. The Bench Mark Program started offering free personal training services to youth identified as “at-risk” by local high schools and community organizations.
“We plan to empower our team through Mental Health First Aid Training, Motivational Interviewing, and Trauma Informed Weightlifting Training, among others. We are also investing in group facilitation training (for educators), to help our staff better manage large group dynamics.”
Horizons at Lancaster County Day School provides counseling services for its students and strives to create a learning environment that develops students’ emotional intelligence in tandem with cognitive intelligence. With the grant, they will be able to hire a full-time (temporary) School Counselor during the summer months.
The YWCA Lancaster is increasing prevention education in their Sexual Assault Prevention and Counseling Center. As the Rape Crisis Center for the county, they provide primary prevention education programs to the community. Healthy Relationship Project (HRP) is a researched-based, trauma-informed, and age-appropriate child sexual abuse prevention curriculum created by Prevent Child Abuse Vermont.
“When delivering these programs, we go directly into schools to lower access barriers for children and families.”
Community Action Partnership (CAP) of Lancaster County is hosting “Play and Learn” programs to serve families with children birth to five years of age in communities in Lancaster County that have limited availability of high-quality early learning opportunities. Each session is comprised of child-directed play, caregiver learning, a coordinated group activity, and intentional space for caregivers to build social capital, as well as time for caregivers to explore resources with a focus on family well-being.
Samaritan Counseling Center is expanding their Teen Hope program. Teen Hope is a mental health awareness program screening students for depression, anxiety, and suicide risk. This funding will help Teen Hope address the needs of the community by updating our video for parent and student education, creating internal training modules to have clear, concise and consistent expectations and protocols for staff, interns and volunteers in the schools.
At the Touchstone Foundation, our mission is to elevate youth mental wellness in Lancaster County. We do this by focusing on building the talent pipeline in mental health care and increasing access to youth mental health services.
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Touchstone Foundation is a nonprofit organization that has focused on elevating the mental well-being of youth and children in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania for over 20 years. Visit our website for more information touchstonefound.org