Eighty percent of our clients live in poverty, and many of them come to us through the 2-1-1 crisis hotline. For over ninety years, The Child and Family Guidance Center has provided critical mental health services. Donations from supporters like you are need now more than ever: https://cfgc.salsalabs.org/generaldonationform/index.html

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.”

Help Traumatized Kids

By the time Anna was 13, she had been raped, abused and given birth to her first child.  Anna came to CFGC profoundly sad and unable to cope. Through individual, group and family counseling, CFGC clinicians are helping Anna rediscover hope, trust  and love.

Over seventy percent of the children and teens we treat have been traumatized. Often, they are victims of the inner city, facing violence, abuse, broken homes and homelessness. Many more children and teens face their traumas alone. Today, you can help us to reach out to these kids and give them the love and therapy that they so desperately need.

Jason lived in a Bridgeport housing project with his father. “I grew up believing that I would never get out of the projects,” Jason remembers. The CFGC team came together to provide a range of supports that Jason and his father needed to cope. Jason became the first “Morales” to graduate from high school.

Help Heal Families

Nothing is more powerful than the love that binds families together, but when those bonds break or are weakened, kids and their futures are at risk.

For children and teens who live in poverty and experience trauma, these risks magnify. Graduation rates fall. Teen pregnancy, delinquency and drug use rise.

At The Child and Family Guidance Center, families can heal. Then, they are better able to protect, guide and advocate for their kids, and these kids are able to find their own pathways to healthy, happy and productive lives.