Client Spotlight - Aldea Children and Family Services
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npocpas1
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This month Harrington Group is turning our Client Spotlight North and shining it on one of our amazing clients in Napa, California: Aldea Children & Family Services. Aldea Children & Family Services has clinics in Napa and Solano counties in California, and a presence in over 30 schools, primary care facilities and organizations in surrounding communities. With so many facilities so widely spread, Aldea has the means necessary to reach and help a large number of adults and children suffering from mental illness.
Aldea Children & Family Services operates with a clear mission: “To improve lives and create bright futures for people we serve by providing professional mental health, child welfare and support services in a manner that respects the dignity and individuality of each person.” However, this takes collaboration and teamwork to achieve. It is no mistake the Aldea means “little village,” because achieving this mission is only possible by working together through their various operational centers and clinics and through the help of their supporters and volunteers.
Aldea Children & Family Services got its start in 1972, when they incorporated to open a home for young girls, housing six females suffering from mental illness. Allen Ewig oversaw the operation as Executive Director for over 33 years. He was passionate about helping people cope with abuse and trauma; from children and adults, to entire families, he dedicated his life to bringing treatment and relief to those that needed it the most. The organization began with a focus on serving the adolescents with mental illness and has grown to help over 2,200 people each year, children and adults alike, in its surrounding communities.
Allen Ewig
Because 1 in 5 children and 1 in 4 adults have an experience with mental illness at some point in their lives, the need for care and attention in this area of medical research and treatment is great. Quite simply, often the people who suffer with mental illness and are most in need of help are unable to receive it for various reasons, economic or otherwise. That is where Aldea Children & Family Services steps in, offering mental health, child welfare and support services to those in need. Their goal that all people they serve “will achieve emotional wellness and become engaged members of the community, despite past abuse or emotional challenges.”
In these photos, children display the artwork they created in Aldea’s art therapy program. Through the agency’s art therapy program, children from Solano and Napa counties use drawing, painting and sculpture to work through conflict and trauma with the guidance of trained Aldea therapists. Aldea publishes some of those pieces in the annual Children’s Art Therapy Calendar—now in its 15th year—to increase awareness of children’s mental health issues and raise funds for services. “Ten percent of kids have serious mental disorder,” explains Mark Bontrager, Aldea Executive Director. “Art therapy helps them to better express their emotions and also improves their self-image. Our calendar shows people how art can be vital to the healing process.”
Services provided by Aldea Children & Family Services are offered based on four key values that are at the center of all that Aldea strives to offer to the communities it serves: “Client-Centered” - meaning that Aldea will work with clients to focus on mutually-established goals that pertain to improving clients’ lives and futures. “Excellence” - meaning that Aldea promotes and provides “professional development” for all staff, ensuring that they can provide the highest quality of care to those served. “Diversity” - Aldea Children & Family Services staff and volunteers represent many different backgrounds, and Aldea understands that that the clients it serves come from many different places as well. And, “Collaboration” - Aldea Children & Family Services has established partnerships with other community organizations so it can better serve those in need and offer a broader range of services.
Aldea Children & Family Services, Harrington Group salutes you and everyone that you call family for bringing such an important and much needed service to your community and those around you in need. We are proud to serve you and take part in your mission.
Aldea Children & Family Services operates with a clear mission: “To improve lives and create bright futures for people we serve by providing professional mental health, child welfare and support services in a manner that respects the dignity and individuality of each person.” However, this takes collaboration and teamwork to achieve. It is no mistake the Aldea means “little village,” because achieving this mission is only possible by working together through their various operational centers and clinics and through the help of their supporters and volunteers.
Aldea Children & Family Services got its start in 1972, when they incorporated to open a home for young girls, housing six females suffering from mental illness. Allen Ewig oversaw the operation as Executive Director for over 33 years. He was passionate about helping people cope with abuse and trauma; from children and adults, to entire families, he dedicated his life to bringing treatment and relief to those that needed it the most. The organization began with a focus on serving the adolescents with mental illness and has grown to help over 2,200 people each year, children and adults alike, in its surrounding communities.
Allen Ewig
Because 1 in 5 children and 1 in 4 adults have an experience with mental illness at some point in their lives, the need for care and attention in this area of medical research and treatment is great. Quite simply, often the people who suffer with mental illness and are most in need of help are unable to receive it for various reasons, economic or otherwise. That is where Aldea Children & Family Services steps in, offering mental health, child welfare and support services to those in need. Their goal that all people they serve “will achieve emotional wellness and become engaged members of the community, despite past abuse or emotional challenges.”
In these photos, children display the artwork they created in Aldea’s art therapy program. Through the agency’s art therapy program, children from Solano and Napa counties use drawing, painting and sculpture to work through conflict and trauma with the guidance of trained Aldea therapists. Aldea publishes some of those pieces in the annual Children’s Art Therapy Calendar—now in its 15th year—to increase awareness of children’s mental health issues and raise funds for services. “Ten percent of kids have serious mental disorder,” explains Mark Bontrager, Aldea Executive Director. “Art therapy helps them to better express their emotions and also improves their self-image. Our calendar shows people how art can be vital to the healing process.”
Services provided by Aldea Children & Family Services are offered based on four key values that are at the center of all that Aldea strives to offer to the communities it serves: “Client-Centered” - meaning that Aldea will work with clients to focus on mutually-established goals that pertain to improving clients’ lives and futures. “Excellence” - meaning that Aldea promotes and provides “professional development” for all staff, ensuring that they can provide the highest quality of care to those served. “Diversity” - Aldea Children & Family Services staff and volunteers represent many different backgrounds, and Aldea understands that that the clients it serves come from many different places as well. And, “Collaboration” - Aldea Children & Family Services has established partnerships with other community organizations so it can better serve those in need and offer a broader range of services.
Aldea Children & Family Services, Harrington Group salutes you and everyone that you call family for bringing such an important and much needed service to your community and those around you in need. We are proud to serve you and take part in your mission.
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