By Jennifer Marino
There is a comic strip, drawn by a little boy, that shows dark clouds over his house. His happiest time is with his dog, and he draws himself saying I love you to the pet that gives him unconditional love.
A girl draws herself at her happiest as a solitary mermaid swimming under a fiery orange sky. Over a simple drawing of the twin towers, another girl writes, If I cold [sic] change the past it would be about the world trade center because my Dad was in the world trade center and if I could change about the world trade center it would be about my Dad dieing THE END.
On October 1, the counseling program, on Merrick Road, will lose most of the funds it receives from Project Liberty. Some limited money will still be available, but the center will be forced to cut both programs and services.
We would really like to continue as rich a program, said Minna Barrett, Ph.D., clinical supervisor of the center. At an open house on Sept. 9, Barrett offered a tour of the center and explained the many free programs it offers.
The counseling program's current budget of $60,000 a month is funded by Project Liberty, the September 11th Fund, South Nassau Communities Hospital and private donations. As of Oct. 1, the program will need $40,000 a month to sustain its services until Sept. 11, 2004. The funding will be lost because Project Liberty will have reached its funding limit for Nassau County.
Project Liberty was started with a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The grant was originally set to expire in March 2003, but it was extended until the end of the year to give Project Liberty more time to spend the money it had received. New York counties disperse the money they are allocated to specific providers, said Roger Klingman, director of public information for New York State Office of Mental Health.
The center continues to help 120 community members every week, in addition to taking phone inquiries. It was opened by South Nassau Communities Hospital on Sept. 29, 2001, in a storefront at 310 Merrick Rd. With the help of donations such as furniture from local merchants, the empty building became an inviting and comfortable place. The center developed under the guidance of Program Director Thomas Demaria, Ph.D. Over the past two years, about 300 children and 700 adults have been helped by licensed mental health professionals free of charge. The staff has also offered workshops at places of worship, schools and hospitals.
There are services for adults, children and teens as well as a program for first responders such as firefighters, police officers and paramedics. One special program works with Holocaust survivors who again suffered post-traumatic stress as a result of experiencing another major tragedy. Some Holocaust survivors wrote letters to children who lost family members on Sept. 11 to encourage and comfort them.
Two years after the tragedy, the children's emotions are still deeply affected by the attacks. When asked about conflict in their lives, they draw things related to that day such as the twin towers or a father's fire truck.
Programs are offered for specific groups of the bereaved: adults who lost siblings, children who lost fathers, adults who lost spouses and so on. For the children and teens, many of the programs are activities-based to make them comfortable about sharing their feelings. In one such activity, children learned about making choices. They had about 25 choices of toppings at a sundae party but they could only choose eight. The teens support each other and enjoy Yankee games, sailing and boardsailing.
Intergenerational connectedness is also key to the services offered, according to Barrett. Parents and children often attend counseling together, and the groups parallel one another so families can connect and adjust to their new dynamic. Groups are brought together at the many seasonal parties the center throws.
The adults also have activities, such as a retreat at the St. Ignatius Retreat House. One adult group is Home Ground, for those who responded to the disaster and worked downtown. This group uses peer counselors such as other firefighters and police officers. A paramedic who was injured by falling debris found Home Ground to be key to his emotional recovery. He has found a new calling, and is preparing for a career as a history teacher. His injury kept him from continuing as a paramedic, but he still wanted to help people.
Part of the success of the counseling center has been the undercurrent of accessibility, said Barrett, explaining that one major factor is that the programs are free. We would love to be able to keep it that way, she said. The cut in funding will be a major challenge. That the center is scrupulous about confidentiality is another advantage. For every poster showing pictures from parties and trips, there was a sign asking that photographs not be taken of these displays. Parents must sign a release for their children's artwork to be photographed, and last names are not used.
The World Trade Center Child and Family Counseling Program can be reached at (516)678-2700.
