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About MHA > About Us
> Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Caroline Turner
Mental Health Association of Westchester
Assistant Executive Director
Development and Communications
914-345-5900, Ext. 292
turnerc@mhawestchester.org
Mental Health Association of Westchester’s
Bilingual Treatment Services for Latino Immigrants Get Big Boost:
$50,000 Grant Awarded by van Ameringen Foundation
Westchester County, NY, December 7, 2007 - The van Ameringen Foundation, Inc. has awarded The Mental
Health Association of Westchester County, Inc. (MHA) a grant of $50,000 in support of the expansion of
Nuestro Futuro, MHA’s program serving the mental health needs of Westchester’s rapidly growing Latino
population. The new funding will enable MHA to eliminate the waiting list for bilingual and bicultural mental
health treatment services at its clinics and to expand education and outreach efforts to the County’s Spanish-
speaking immigrant community.
One of the few mental health services in Westchester specifically dedicated to serving the Latino population,
Nuestro Futuro was established in 2003 to provide culturally-competent and sensitive services to Latino
families. The program is designed to provide a continuum of care that includes early mental health
intervention and support services to adults who are struggling with issues of migration and acculturation, as
well as children who have been experiencing cultural shock in their own family system.
Nuestro Futuro’s multidisciplinary team of licensed clinical and medical staff makes bilingual/bicultural mental
health services available 24 hours a day to hundreds of clients at MHA’s two main licensed clinics: the
Northern Westchester Counseling Center in Mount Kisco and the Sterling Center in Elmsford. Services include
individual, couple, group and family treatment, as well as crisis intervention and medication evaluation and
therapy. The program also offers information and referral services as well as education and training, including
presentations in English and Spanish to organizations, community groups and academic facilities.
“Getting this news is so gratifying,” said Carla Quail, LCSW, MHA’s Assistant Executive Director in charge of
clinical services. “This program has worked so hard – with very little resources – to meet the needs of so many
that this will really make a difference.” According to Quail, demand for culturally appropriate mental health
treatment for Spanish-speakers has grown faster than the organization’s capacity to provide it in recent years.
The U.S. Census recorded a 67% increase in Westchester County’s Latino population from 1990 to 2000; an
additional 55,000 new immigrants from Latin America are anticipated by 2020, according to the County
Executive’s office. Funding from the van Ameringen Foundation will help MHA to cope with this burgeoning
demand.
The Mental Health Association of Westchester County, Inc. (MHA), a not-for profit organization, is the leading
resource for mental health services in Westchester County. Through its advocacy, education and direct
services, MHA meets a broad spectrum of critical needs of thousands of children, adults and families each
year, never turning away anyone in need due to inability to pay full fee. MHA is committed to eliminating the
stigma associated with mental illness and fulfilling its guiding values of hope, respect, commitment and
progress. Visit MHA’s website, www.mhawestchester.org, for information on critical mental health issues and
services in Westchester County.
Based in New York City, the van Ameringen Foundation, Inc. was established by Arnold Louis van Ameringen in
1950. From its beginning the Foundation has sought to stimulate prevention, education and direct care in the
mental health field, with an emphasis on those individuals and populations having an impoverished
background and few opportunities, for whom appropriate intervention would produce positive change. The
$50,000 grant to MHA of Westchester was one of five grants awarded for 2008 through the Foundation’s
program supporting projects serving the needs of recent Immigrants. For additional information, visit the van
Ameringen Foundation website at http://www.vanamfound.org.
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