Help Share Counseling and Care Resources With People Seeking Emotional Support

Mar 8, 2016 | UA News

Article and photos by Urban Alliance staff.

Chances are, you or someone you know is going through a challenging season at this very moment, perhaps from the loss of a loved one, an ongoing struggle with addiction, a recent divorce or another difficult situation.

Often, people who are seeking emotional support do not know where to find service providers. And, according to care providers engaged in Charis, it is a challenge to help people understand that they need professional help and cannot cope with their mental health or emotional struggles alone; people need advocates to help them get appropriate assistance.

Charis is an Urban Alliance initiative that aims to help people become emotionally healthy and resilient by collaboratively increasing the impact of local care and counseling services.

The Charis website (www.CharisNetworkCT.org) and printed resources provide simple ways to connect with a variety of professional counselors and care providers right here in Greater Hartford:

Here are 3 ways to help connect people to care:

To receive free printed Charis resources or learn more about engaging in Charis as an emotional care service provider, contact Jessica Sanderson, UA’s Senior Director of Research & Strategy, at jessica.sanderson@urbanalliance.com or 860.986.7461.

The staff at Urban Alliance are familiar with Pastor Frank because he is a regular attendee to many of the trainings Urban Alliance provides on subjects like domestic violence, addressing childhood trauma, and better counseling techniques. โ€œThatโ€™s been so valuable to me to be able to bring that back, not only in my counseling but also in my teaching and preaching ministries, โ€œ shared Termine.

Pastor Frank was also one of the original members of the Micah group, a group of pastors that meets at Urban Alliance to discuss and strategize about challenging issues that face the church today. One of those earlier discussions on justice, incarceration, and returning citizens was particularly memorable. โ€œWe all lamented the fact that these men and women were coming out of prison into our churches and just kind of being thrown there,โ€ said Termine, โ€œWe could do better than this.โ€ That discussion planted the seeds that eventually led to the creation of Second Chance Churches – an opportunity for churches to provide support and mentoring to returning citizens that continues today.

When we asked Pastor Frank what he would say to another church that was unaware of Urban Alliance, he said, โ€œIf you are looking to get out in the community and make a difference in the community, Urban Alliance is a super way to do it. Weโ€™re a small church โ€ฆ we canโ€™t do everything. Urban Alliance is a pathway to get our people involved in ministries that are already doing it, doing it well, and just need extra volunteers.โ€

Pastor Frank Termineโ€™s story embodies many things we are trying to accomplish at Urban Alliance: supporting organizations in the communities they serve with training, resources, and opportunities to make a difference. Pastors and non-profit leaders face a wide range of challenges and, therefore, need a wide range of help and resources. Your support can help turn stories of struggle into stories like you find at Calvary Church.

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