The Camilla Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides free counseling to local youth, is having a fundraiser event on Tuesday, May 14th from 5:30pm to 7:00pm at the The Botanic Garden at Georgia Southern University, 1503 Bland Avenue in Statesboro. The event is titled, "Pathway to Healing: A Day to Support Mental Health Awareness," and is open to the public.
The organization was created to bridge a gap for the children of the community who were not being served for various reasons. Licensed Professional Counselor and Registered Play Therapist April Miller did not want lack of transportation or funds to prevent kids from getting the mental health services they needed.
"We provide counseling services for kids anywhere from ages two to 17 in Bulloch County only, and basically work as a referral from other nonprofits," Charlene Lamar, Ed.D, explains. "It's really special."
The Camilla Foundation offers social emotional learning classes at the Boys & Girls Club and at two schools during the Bulloch County Recreation Department's afterschool program. They administer pre- and post-testing to gauge how well the classes work. Recently, Lamar received feedback that one of the children had actually begun to transfer what she had learned in the SEL classes to her friends at school.
The organization, which has three counselors, received a grant from the Department of Education to continue their mission. What started with a caseload of approximately 50 children has grown to over 700. Due to the needs of the children in the community, The Camilla Foundation added "Pathway to Healing" to their calendar of annual fundraisers.
"Tuesday is all about sharing what we do, how we came to be, of course to raise funds for counseling so we can continue doing what we are doing," Lamar says.
For more information, please visit The Camilla Foundation.
