WEST BERGEN OFFERS SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR TEEN MOMS
AT ST. ELIZABETH’S CHURCH IN RIDGEWOOD
photo by TKL Marketing, Ho-Ho-Kus
Representatives of West Bergen Mental Healthcare and St. Elizabeth’s Church, Ridgewood, met recently to discuss plans for The Chrysalis Program, a new parent education and support program specifically geared to teen mothers and their children and housed at St. Elizabeth’s Church. Participants included (l-r): The Rev. Cn. John Hartnett, Rector, St. Elizabeth’s; Ann Dowling, Parish Administrator, St. Elizabeth’s; Amy Barr, LCSW, West Bergen; Ann Garrett, Junior Warden, St. Elizabeth’s; Martha Morley, Outreach Committee Member, St. Elizabeth’s; Russ Borgman, Senior Warden, St. Elizabeth’s and Roseanne Trapani, MA, MFT, West Bergen.
“Being a parent is a tough job,” said Amy Barr, who is the Program Coordinator for The Chrysalis Program. “You are required to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. For many teen mothers, parenting is a job they are struggling to cope with alone. Many lack peer, family and community support. In addition, community resources for this group are hard to find and rarely tailored to the special learning needs and challenges of teen mothers.” The Chrysalis Program offers teen mothers a support network of professionals and peers in which to learn and grow with their child. Teen mothers, whether pregnant or post-partum, are eligible to participate.
The Program offers a combination of services including: a weekly series of Parenting Workshops; individual, group and family therapeutic services; monthly guest speakers and special events. The Workshops, which are an essential component to the program, started this past winter at Saint Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church. “We are so grateful to the congregation of Saint Elizabeth for generously donating space at the Church for the workshops”, Ms. Barr noted. To date, there are seven girls participating in the program, many of whom are referred by Several Sources Shelter in Ramsey, a Catholic home for single mothers. West Bergen therapist, Roseanne Trapani, co-facilitates the groups with Ms. Barr.
West Bergen welcomes donations of childcare supplies, as well as books on parenting and childcare for these needy young women and their children. For further information on The Chrysalis Program and how you might help, please call Amy Barr at (201) 934-1160, ext. 7212 or e-mail at abarr@westbergen.org.
Established in 1963 as a child guidance clinic, today West Bergen provides comprehensive services for all age groups with various levels of need. West Bergen Mental Healthcare recently celebrated being voted Number One in Client Satisfaction by the Mental Health Corporations of America’s National Survey for 2007. The Agency has earned this notable recognition five times since 1998.
West Bergen offers services for children and adults in three convenient locations:
West Bergen Mental Healthcare, 120 Chestnut Street, Ridgewood, NJ 07450, (201)
444-3550; West Bergen Center for Children and Youth, One Cherry Lane, Ramsey, NJ 07446, (201) 934-1160 and West Bergen Counseling Group, 3 Post Road, Oakland, NJ 07436, (201) 651-1900.