Freeport's South Shore Child Guidance Center hosts holiday party for children and families

Children and families joined the South Shore Child Guidance Center to help launch the holiday season at its annual Christmas celebration.

Attendees left the Freeport Memorial Library feeling joyous while looking the part, wearing festive hats and carrying gifts.

The South Shore Child Guidance Center held its fourth annual holiday party on Dec. 3, returning to the library for the first time in two years since the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted the routine. 

“We’ve been in the community since the 50s,” mental health services senior director, Shari Lurie said. “What we try and do because the community is a needy community is we like to provide a party for the kids so that they can have a nice Christmas. Some of them don’t get gifts because their parents cannot afford it. So, we bring them in, feed them, give them gifts and the kids and the families are incredibly appreciative.”

Patients and family joined the staff for a memorable afternoon where visitors were able to take part in a variety of activities, including a reindeer toss, a coloring table, and a slime-making station. A staff member also applied fake tattoos to the children. 

Before beginning to dispense gifts, Santa sat and spoke with some of the kids. Toys were collected and organized by age group for the children, with each visitor receiving two to three gifts to take home.

The Freeport police and fire departments brought representatives to the Christmas celebration, arriving in full uniform with their gear and presents for the children. Walking around the room, police officers and firefighters distributed coloring books and fire hats.

“We are having our annual holiday party, where we kind of try to give back to our clientele through gifts and activities for the holiday,” Clinic Supervisor, Anna Artega said. “We’re actually very excited to have it this year because we haven’t been able to have it for the last two years due to Covid. So, this was our first time back in person, which was nice.”

The center, located at 91 Guy Lombardo Ave., is an outpatient mental health clinic licensed by the state Office of Mental Health. It has been supporting Nassau County children and families since 1959 and has become a Freeport community staple, supporting over 1,000 children every month ranging in age from preschool to 18 years old.

The center offers a variety of services such as individual, group and family psychotherapy, adult and pediatric psychotherapy, home-based crisis intervention, chemical dependency education, counseling, and a DWI offenders’ program.

South Shore Child Guidance Center is also the sole provider of children’s emergency services in Nassau County, providing its own mobile crisis team and the ability to perform crisis intervention in the home. The unit is designed to respond promptly to people and/or families in distress at home or anywhere else in the community. Team members from the center travel to their patients’ residences or locations to facilitate on-site supportive crisis intervention in the event of any disruptions or emergencies.

While the Christmas party was a memorable celebration, the staff at the center is already looking forward to next year’s event when they move into a new building and use their own facility for the first time to hold the event.  

Since its inception, the center has been located on Guy Lombardo Avenue. However, in recent years, the organization has been attempting to expand its services with a newer, larger structure. They have secured their new home on Church Street and plan to move in completely by March after receiving a statewide transformation grant this year.

“The importance of the new building is that the need has grown so much out there for mental health,” Lurie said. “The kids are suffering, especially since Covid. But they have been even before that, so this will allow us to serve more children, families and adults.”

One of the most significant advantages of the facility upgrade is the ability to operate an in-house pharmacy for patients. Visitors can come in for therapy or treatment and then stop by the pharmacy on their way out for a more convenient process, since all of their needs will be met under one roof.

“The new building will have our own personal pharmacy where our clients and employees will be able to get their medication, it’s going to be an in-house pharmacy,” Artega said. “We’re also going to have a lot more space, we’re going to have a lot more group rooms and things like that.”