AHM receives a Department of Economic and Community Development grant

For the second year, AHM Youth and Family Services has been awarded a Directed Local Funds grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. The new grant award will support a range of programs, services, and community initiatives for the four towns served by AHM.

Last year the grant-funded: a regional mental health initiative including suicide prevention training for community members, planning in times of community-wide tragedies, and the introduction of a children’s initiative called Gizmo, a school-based mental health program. Other initiatives supported by the grant included advanced mental health training and certifications that were focused on helping AHM’s clinical staff learn new techniques to assist children and families coping with trauma. The grant supported the expansion of technology systems for AHM to better serve clients and the purchase of new playground equipment for the school-based KinderRHAM program operated in partnership with the local schools.

This year’s grant will focus on training for Andover, Columbia, Hebron, and Marlborough community members in the QPR – Question, Persuade and Refer program to help prevent suicides. There will be support for the Family Resource Center, as well as creating new performing arts programs for area children and teens, support for the regional Lanterns Mentoring program, help for AHM’s counseling services to assist local children, youth, young adults, and families, and the expansion of AHM’s regional mental health Here 4 You program, reading libraries on mental health topics and mental health events.

Special thanks to Senator Cathy Osten, who was one of the state leaders locally that advocated for the creation of this grant program that assists non-profit community organizations like AHM.

AHM’s Executive Director, Tressa Giordano shared: “This grant helps make it possible for AHM to bring new mental health resources, programs, and services for residents who are coping with family members struggling with trauma, depression, isolation, anxiety, and other personal struggles. The grant is also helping to bring back the performing arts for young people in our communities and assuring that programs such as Lanterns, a mentoring program for local school children remain part of our services for many more years. Our communities directly benefit from this grant award from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, and we at AHM are incredibly grateful for this support.”