THE UNITED WAY OF WAYNE AND HOLMES COUNTY IMPACTS OUR LOCAL COMMUNITIES THROUGH OUR PARTNERS

Sometimes Zoom is a wonderful way to connect with individuals for counseling services! One of our therapists recently reported that she has been meeting with a client who has extreme anxiety challenges. The person struggles to come into the office, which is some of the symptoms of anxiety that often affect the individual. Meeting through Zoom, the therapist was able to "share her screen" to review worksheets and other psychoeducational items that proved to be very effective with the person. The therapist is reporting great improvement with the person overall! It resulted in the following positive report: "Nancy is a Godsend. She has helped me through the most emotional time in my life with grace and class. She is so valuable to me and my family! I thank you also for being here for the community. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

THE COUNSELING CENTER

This story is about a 45-year-old female who participated in The Counseling Center’s Employment Services program this year. Upon entering the program, she faced multiple barriers to employment, such as struggling with mental health challenges as well as different physical disabilities that limit her ability to stand for more than a few hours at a time without enduring pain. Her job coach assisted her with building her resume and cover letter and helped her to communicate and initiate a job interview with a local employer. She was soon offered the position. The client was operating a cash register but was asked to start working one extra day per week and instead of a four-hour shift the employer asked the client to work an eight-hour shift on the extra day. The client informed her Job Coach that she cannot stand that long, as the four-hour shifts were already causing her a lot of pain by the end of her shift. At the client’s request, her Job Coach called the employer to make a Reasonable Accommodation Request. The client and job coach asked the employer to allow the client to keep a chair at her register that the client could sit in when her body needed a break and to allow her to operate the register from the chair. The employer agreed and provided the client with the needed chair. This accommodation helped the client to meet both the needs of the employer and her needs. She has maintained successful employment for over three months and has shown remarkable growth and improved independence. We are grateful for United Way’s contributions that make success stories like this possible!

LEARN N PLAY

A mother who had her two little boys enrolled in our center, came to us after the boys the had beaten her up. She left home with nothing and moved in with her parents. Because of funding and a partnership with United Way we were able to provide the boys a safe place to be while mom got things figured out and secured more stable employment, because of our partnerships we were able to get the boys in to see an early childhood mental health consultant as well as helping mom with the essentials needed for a new home.