Help Youth in Crisis

“Help” was what Joel carved into his arm with a safety pin. That was in seventh grade. His father had abandoned him years ago. His mother worked two or three jobs, so Joel was left alone most of the time. In school, Joel was failing and being bullied. “I was in a dark place, cutting myself, often thinking about suicide” Joel recalls, “and I could be dead.”

Following a crisis, Joel received the counseling and support he needed to find his pathway forward. A decade later, Joel is a counselor to troubled youth and a double-major graduate of the University of Connecticut.  “CFGC pulled me out of the darkness, and helped me become the man I am today.”