Hannah’s Family Center Granted $20K from Conrad Prebys Foundation

San Diego CA

28 February, 2022

2:16 PM

Description

Grant Enables Hannah’s to Expand Child and Teen Mental Health Therapies through the Pandemic Media Contact: Vince Heald, [email protected], 858-717-1000 San Diego, CA – February 28, 2022 – The Conrad Prebys Foundation Board of Directors has awarded a grant in the amount of $20,000 for Hannah's Family Center’s: Thriving Children - Healthy Families project. The grant enables the Center to expand its child and teen mental health therapies as the full impact on children’s mental wellness emerges from the pandemic. Grant funding will support expansion of individual and group therapy for youth ages two through five, six through eleven and twelve through seventeen who are experiencing mental, emotional, and social challenges due to school closures and isolation. “The generosity of The Conrad Prebys Foundation is instrumental in allowing us to enhance our projects that help San Diego families navigate unexpected loss, trauma, and significant adverse changes,” said Susan Griffin, executive director of Hannah’s Family Center. “Timely intervention is the key to preserving family ties, and the healthy, strong adult-child relationships that lay the critical foundations for children's long-term success. This grant supports that essential process.” Early post-pandemic findings locally and nationally indicate that mental health has deteriorated significantly among children and teens during the pandemic, along with increased exposure to domestic violence, parental substance abuse and mental health traumas. A recent poll by researchers at the University of Michigan found that 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 teen boys have experienced new or worsening anxiety; that parents of teen girls and teen boys saw an increase in anxiety and worry or depression and sadness; and that 3 in 4 parents said COVID restrictions had affected their teen’s connections to friends. A vital component of the grant is the inclusion of parent-child relationship counseling that strengthens critical bonds. Grant services will benefit children by increasing self-awareness and mastering specific coping skills; learning strategies to reduce anxiety, depression, and emotional distress; preserving and building resilience in each child and their parents; and building new and positive peer relationships. # # #