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To the editor:
As the president and CEO of the Child Guidance Center (CGC) of Southern Connecticut, I urge readers to support the Community Fund of Darien as they wrap up their fundraising year on June 30. The Community Fund is a precious community resource. Their work ensures that the entire network of human services organizations serving Darien is positioned for maximum impact and success.
The Community Fund supports a wide network of local nonprofits with a common goal of ensuring the success and well being of those in need in our community. They provide local nonprofits with financial support, capacity-building tools and a true partnership, with a commitment to ensuring our social services are healthy and strong. At CGC of Southern Connecticut, we have been the beneficiaries of Community Fund grants for many years. We could not provide our professional mental health services to children, adolescents and their families in lower Fairfield County without their generous support. As the saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child,” and we are lucky to have The Community Fund of Darien supporting us in our mission to help families thrive.
The Community Fund brings local experts together at the table through community initiatives like the Thriving Youth Task Force and the Human Services Planning Council to foster collaboration, efficiency and to identify and eliminate gaps in human services in our community.
Our community needs a strong network of partners to support families in distress and provide critically needed services. The Community Fund is a historic presence in Darien, with deep roots and an even deeper understanding of what its residents want and need to flourish. Because of their unique local focus, they are able to identify and fund the strongest and most vital agencies serving our community’s complex challenges.
The Community Fund is your community fund, and needs your financial support. Practicing philanthropy is especially important during times like these when community services are in greatest demand. CGC of Southern Connecticut is proud to count The Community Fund among our most generous supporters. The Community Fund selects its grantees prudently, making the best use of its donor dollars. Whether an agency focuses on healthcare for seniors or feeding hungry children, they undergo a rigorous grant application and evaluation process to ensure that donor investments are well spent. They expect no less than excellence from each of their grantees and their presence in the community holds each of us to a top-notch standard of performance.
Local need continues to grow. Over the past year, we have seen a 48 percent rise in requests for our child and adolescent mental health services agency-wide and a staggering 93 percent leap in Darien.
Comprehensive, targeted funding from The Community Fund is critical to the community because it addresses the entire spectrum of human services, ensuring that all pieces are in place for families to succeed. Without donor support, The Community Fund will be hard pressed to underwrite these much needed services and agencies like ours will be challenged to keep programs alive. We hope that our community will continue its history of vigorous and generous support of The Community Fund, thereby strengthening the agencies they work with and empowering the individuals and families that we all serve.
The Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut is a professionally staffed outpatient mental health center serving children and adolescents in Darien, Stamford, New Canaan, and Greenwich.
Sherry Perlstein, MSW President and CEO
Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut
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