Helping Others - and in Need of Help

Non-profits that help struggling people are hit from both sides in a down economy. Not only do more people need help, but donations and insurance reimbursements taper off as the employed tighten their belts and the unemployed drop health insurance due to the expense or don't use it due to high co-pays.

For the first time in a decade, Fairfield Counseling Services, a non-profit on Penfield Road that provides mental health counseling and psychiatric services, is holding a dinner dance fundraiser to help it continue its mission of helping people who cope in negative ways to losses in their lives.

Before the recession hit in the fall of 2008, Fairfield Counseling Services had from 6,000 to 6,500 counseling sessions a year. It now has 8,500 a year and reimbursements are down because more people don't have insurance, said Dorothy Timmermann, the non-profit's executive director. "We're providing more services and we're getting less reimbursement," she said.

Kathy Mastronardi, director of administration at the non-profit, added that some cases are chronic, meaning they're severe and require more sessions. "People are struggling. A lot of them are really struggling," she said.

Timmermann said, "It's not quality-of-life stuff. People are symptomatic."

Eighty-five percent of Fairfield Counseling Service's clients are from Fairfield and many people mistakenly believe Fairfield residents and families are untouched by the financial struggles and conflicts associated with cities, Timmermann said. "Bridgeport has plenty of services. The majority of our client base is Fairfield," she said.

In 2009, 21 homes in Fairfield were foreclosed on and that number rose to 40 in 2010. Since Jan. 1, 11 "lis pendens," the first action in a foreclosure, have been recorded on Fairfield homes and only two were due to divorce proceedings, according to records in the Town Clerk's Office.

One of the biggest challenges Fairfield Counseling Services faces is convincing people that the middle class is struggling, Timmermann said. "It's kind of a silent embarrassment. People don't say anything. It doesn't have a pull to it, a grab to it. It's real middle-class people trying to get through the day...You know it if it happens to you."

Timmermann said she knows engineers who have been out of work for 18 months.

Fairfield Counseling Services, a licensed outpatient psychiatric clinic whose roots go back to 1969 on Unquowa Road, provides counseling and psychiatric services to individuals, couples and families who are suffering from everything ranging from anxiety and depression to substance abuse problems and domestic violence. Many of the non-profit's clients have lost their jobs, Timmermann said.

Timmermann said there is a "huge psychological impact" that comes with loss, be it a job, home or loved one, and people sometimes cope with that loss in negative ways, such as turning to alcohol or drugs or losing their temper with family members. "We help them cope in positive ways," she said. "We help them stabilize the losses and connect them with resources they need."

While people may view the loss of a job in a negative way, Timmermann says Fairfield Counseling Services gets them to view it in a positive way - as an opportunity to build a new life in a career they love.

Clients come of their own accord or from referrals by people they know, the Police Department, hospitals, doctors' offices, other therapists, schools, agencies that help the homeless and the 211 information line, Timmermann said.

Mastronardi said the non-profit accepts payment on a sliding scale and also has a scholarship program, and Timmermann said Fairfield Counseling Services does not turn away people who can't afford or don't have insurance.

"In Fairfield, there aren't the same community-based services that work on a sliding scale," Timmermann said.

Fairfield Counseling Services has 500 active cases at any one time and has taken on interns from Fairfield University, Southern Connecticut State University and Fordham University to help defray some of the cost, Mastronardi and Timmermann said. Fairfield Counseling Services is a training facility for master-level mental health technicians, Timmermann added.

Despite the challenges of rising cases and declining reimbursements, Fairfield Counseling Services hasn't cut services or refused help to people, Timmermann said. "We have not cut services one whit. We've actually expanded them. Now, we're at the point where we have to get donations and assistance. That's why we took this [dinner dance] on."

The non-profit started in 1969 on Unquowa Road as "Reach," a drop-in center for substance abusers, and it then decided to focus on adolescents and changed its name to Fairfield Counseling Services. In 1981, the non-profit was in the former Fairfield Police Department building, where Operation Hope is now, and it then moved to Beach Road in a building that stood where the Fairfield Museum and History Center is located.

Fairfield Counseling Services moved to its current home on Penfield Road about five years ago after its Beach Road building was demolished to make way for the Fairfield Museum and History Center. "We keep a very low profile," Timmermann said of the non-profit's current home. "In one way, it's a dilemma, but this is a residential neighborhood, and we try to make sure the work we do here does not reflect negatively on the neighborhood."

Timmermann added, though, that the residential setting creates a homey atmosphere for clients and looks like any other house on Penfield Road, which helps preserve confidentiality for clients who don't want to be seen going into a facility that provides counseling and psychiatric services. "When all is said and done, I actually think it's better for people to have a private, home-like environment," she said.

Fairfield Counseling Services decided to hold its dinner dance fundraiser in February because it's the worst month for depression, Timmermannn said - the holiday season is over but the gray winter skies and cold weather remain.

Holding a dinner dance, to raise people's spirits and hopefully some money, seemed like a good idea, and Mastronardi said the event has given people something to look forward to.

"This is our first dinner dance in 10 years. I think we're going to make it an annual event," Mastronardi said.

Fairfield Counseling Services was one of two non-profits that received more than $100,000 through the 2010-11 town budget. Pequot Library, a privately owned library in Fairfield's Southport neighborhood that is open to the public, received $350,000, and Fairfield Counseling Services received $175,000.

In its request for assistance from the town, Fairfield Counseling Services stated in the 2010-11 budget book: "Job losses have increased the percentage of FCS clients lacking financial resources or having lost insurance benefits to pay for services. To respond to this need, Fairfield Counseling Services provides a sliding scale fee structure to accommodate clients who cannot afford to pay for services."

"Since no one who is eligible for outpatient services is denied treatment, we rely on the funding from the Town to assist us in helping our low to modest income clients who pay minimum or no fees to receive services. On behalf of the clients and staff of FCS, we are grateful for the support and generosity of the Town which allows us to provide a continuum of mental health, psychiatric and substance abuse services to the individuals, youths and families of the Fairfield community."

Town officials recently established a committee to review contributions to non-profits that are made through the town budget, and it wasn't clear how much money would be included for Fairfield Counseling Services in the proposed 2011-12 town budget, which is heading to public hearings of town boards beginning in March.

Fairfield Counseling Services' dinner dance will be held from 7 p.m. to midnight on Feb. 19 at Our Lady of Assumption Hall, 545 Stratfield Road in Fairfield. The event will include raffles for a mini-vacation in Cancun, a round of golf for four at the H. Smith Richardson Golf Course and two tickets to the Westport Country Playhouse. Admission is $50 per person, and reservations may be made through Monday. For information, call Mastronardi at 203-255-5777, ext. 18.