With the funding, Sacramento-based HOPE Counseling Center will give free mental health services to area residents with limited or no sight through a partnership with Sacramento's Society for the Blind.
FOLSOM, Calif., Aug. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- SAFE Credit Union is awarding $20,000 to help provide new counseling services benefitting those receiving support from Sacramento's Society for the Blind.
With the funding, Sacramento-based HOPE Counseling Center will give free mental health services to area residents with limited or no sight through a partnership with Sacramento's Society for the Blind.
"This is a new offering, and we are truly grateful to HOPE Counseling and to SAFE Credit Union for supporting this important work for people living with low vision and blindness," says Society for the Blind Executive Director Shari Roeseler.
The grant is expected to pay for hundreds of counseling sessions.
"Many clients experiencing a range of sight challenges deal with depression and anxiety on a daily basis and have nobody to help process their feelings," says Darlene Davis, HOPE's founder and chief executive officer. "They feel isolated, shut off from the sighted world and live with anxiety. In therapy we can help them deal with anxiety and depression with evidence-based tools or trauma informed therapies."
SAFE Community Impact Manager Amanda Merz says the SAFE Credit Union committee that determines grant recipients was impressed by the counseling center's desire to work with Society for the Blind to offer this much-needed resource.
"What an incredible effort by the HOPE Counseling Center to reach out and fill the needs identified by Society for the Blind," Merz says. "We applaud them for wanting to provide such direct support."
The grant is expected to provide weekly therapy to at least 20 clients ranging from six to 13 weeks, totaling 267 sessions in all.
SAFE annually awards $120,000 in grants in four phases focusing on its three pillars of philanthropy: veterans, healthcare, and education.
About SAFE
SAFE Credit Union is a leading financial institution in Northern California with over $4.5 billion in assets and more than 242,000 members. SAFE is a not-for-profit, state-chartered credit union with membership open to businesses and individuals living or working in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Sutter, Butte, Nevada, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Yuba, Amador, and Alameda counties. Insured by NCUA. http://www.safecu.org.
Media Contact
Carole Ferguson, SAFE Credit Union, 916-836-6318, [email protected]
SOURCE SAFE Credit Union
Share this article