A FAMILY’S EMOTIONAL HEALTH BEGINS WITH THEIR MENTAL HEALTH.
Somewhere in our community today, there’s a mother who feels she just can’t cope.
There’s a father near breaking point. Perhaps made worse by homelessness, joblessness, or pandemic pressures, family relationships begin to fray.
And there’s an innocent child caught in the middle, who sees things no child should ever see, in a home that may become filled with violence and abuse.
The child reacts. Resentment, fear, aggression or withdrawal fill the very space that should be reserved for love. And the “problematic” child then drifts further apart from his or her parents, in a vicious circle, leading to possibly irreversible damage to all their lives.
For 75 years, it’s been our mission to break that circle – with compassionate, professional mental health care and support for those who need it most in our community.
HOW WE HELP TO HEAL FAMILIES IN LONG BEACH AND BEYOND
The Guidance Center provides holistic mental health services to our community’s most disadvantaged children – and to their families.
Our therapists meet and treat children wherever they are – whether in school, a hospital, their home, or foster care. Equally importantly, we provide counseling for parents and relatives, too. Guiding them on how to re-establish broken bonds of love, play and trust. And how to be an active part of their child’s healing.
It’s a two-way process that, over the years, has allowed thousands of traumatized or vulnerable children, teens and families to regain a normal, emotionally healthy family life – and a better, brighter future.
In most cases, we’re providing services that would otherwise be financially out of reach for our clients. And those services are becoming more crucial than ever, year on year.
Approximately one out of every five children in America has a diagnosable mental health disorder. Over 75% of children and youths who need mental health services don’t receive them.
Sobering facts. But we’re fully committed to the challenge. And we’re asking you to stand in solidarity with us, as we face it.
AS WE TURN 75, IT’S OUR TURN TO ASK FOR HELP
Our beginnings can be traced to 1946, and to the dedication of a farsighted group of teachers and counselors who joined hands to improve the mental health of Long Beach residents. We’ve grown exponentially since then. And so have our operating costs, and the mental health needs of our community.
Today, we employ almost 200 mental health professionals, support staff, administrators, and interns. We serve more than 3,000 children and families annually, making a meaningful difference to both their present and future lives. To us, it’s deeply rewarding work. To our clients, it’s quite literally life-changing in many cases. (Please visit our website to read about some of the many lives we’ve touched.)
But we’re greatly dependent on the generosity of donors like you. As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, we’ve set a fundraising goal of $75,000 for our year-end campaign. Please contribute what you can, to let our work for 2022 begin on the best possible note.
HOW YOUR GIFT CAN MAKE AN IMPACT
- Support The Guidance Center’s General Fund so our vital services remain strong.
- Contribute to our COVID-19 Client Emergency Relief Fund to help families who are struggling to meet basic needs during the pandemic.
- Support our Adopt-A-Family program, which provides families with holiday gifts they would otherwise go without
There will certainly be plenty of work to do, in the communities we serve in Compton, Greater Long Beach, Lynwood, Paramount, San Pedro, and Catalina Island.
There are families to mend. Smiles to put back on young faces. Bonds to reforge between father and son, mother and daughter. Hope to rekindle. Anxieties to put aside. Futures to illuminate.
It’s what we do, every single day.
But we can’t do it alone. It’s why we need you, and why our children, families and community need you.
Please take a minute to make a difference in their lives.
Sincerely and with gratitude,
Patricia Costales, LCSW
CEO, The Guidance Center
PS Please send your gift by December 31st so other children and families can receive the help they need, especially right now as we all continue to navigate through this ever-changing pandemic.