Providing Counseling Services to a Broadening Underserved Population
Since 1890, Families First has been ensuring the success of children in jeopardy by empowering families. With each passing decade, the organization responds to the changing needs of families — all kinds of families facing all kinds of challenges. 
This year, a grant from the Jesse Parker Williams Foundation will be used to provide mental health counseling services to African-American and Hispanic women and their children at offices throughout metro Atlanta, including Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties. Funds will be used to support licensed, masters-level mental health professionals, including social workers and counselors, as well as marriage and family therapists. This underserved population is facing particularly challenging times. A difficult economy and stepped-up immigration debate can leave affected families feeling fragmented, confused, and depressed. Distress can lead to destructive behaviors, such as domestic violence and substance abuse. Foundation support has enabled the hiring of two bilingual counselors, one serving South Fulton and the other Gwinnett. In the first quarter of 2011 alone, more than 220 new clients, largely African-American and Hispanic women and their children, availed themselves of the expanded, and direly needed, counseling services.