Business

Blue Ridge health agency receives grant for children's counseling

By Bill Moss, Published: July 23, 2012

Blue Ridge Community Health Services (BRCHS) has received a $30,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Henderson County to provide pediatric trauma counseling for the children of Mainstay clients.

Both organizations are currently collaborating to provide behavioral health and substance abuse/addiction services to adults. This grant will help strengthen this collaboration and provide much needed counseling services to the youngest victims of domestic abuse.

Approximately 75 percent of the children entering Mainstay's shelter have behavior issues based on trauma and lack the ability to adequately express their feelings. "This has an effect not only on the child, but everyone they come in contact with throughout a given day. Having a dedicated Pediatric Trauma Counselor provided by BRCHS on site at Mainstay will help break down barriers to receiving behavioral health services at a time when a child is truly in crisis," said Kim Skelton, LCSW with BRCHS.

"BRCHS is proud of the work we have already done with adult Mainstay clients who are victims of domestic abuse," said BRCHS CEO Jennifer Henderson. "Through the generosity of the Community Foundation of Henderson County we will now be able to help the children of these victims."

BRCHS has been serving Hendersonville and the surrounding communities for almost 50 years in an effort to provide high quality and affordable medical, dental and mental health care as well as promote health awareness/education. If you would like more information about BRCHS, call 692-4289 ext. 2509; write to BRCHS at P. O. Box 5151, Hendersonville, NC 28793; or online at www.brchs.com or www.facebook.com/BRCHS.

Mainstay domestic violence shelter in Hendersonville is committed to helping victims of domestic violence in Henderson County acquire the information and skills necessary to take control over the decisions affecting their lives. Programs are designed to assist them in finding the resources within themselves and in the community to make these decisions and to achieve their individual goals. All services are available not only to residents of Mainstay's Shelter but to the community as a whole.

The Community Foundation of Henderson County, founded in 1983, supports charitable programs in the greater Henderson County area.