Local health center receives funding to expand services for mental health care for individuals with substance abuse disorders.

Kennett Square, PA (November 13, 2018) — La Comunidad Hispana (LCH), a nonprofit health center with locations in Kennett Square, Oxford, and West Grove, received funding this year from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to expand its mental health services to include specific counseling targeted to individuals with substance abuse disorder.

This funding stream, Expanding Access to Quality Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Services (SUD-MH), has supported the addition of a new Behavioral Health Consultant to LCH’s existing mental health team of three: Meredith Sullivan.  Meredith has a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and previously worked at Brandywine Counseling and Community Services in Wilmington, Delaware.  She is a Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor, and divides her time between LCH’s sites to ensure that people living throughout southern Chester County have access to the counseling they need.

In response to the growing opioid crisis in Chester County, as well as considerable abuse of other drugs and alcohol, LCH plans to expand its capacity for substance abuse treatment further in the years to come.  LCH attended a planning meeting on the topic of “Facing the Opioid Crisis Together” at the Independence Blue Cross Foundation in Philadelphia, a funder taking a leading role in tackling the addiction issue in our region.  Local nonprofit Kacie’s Cause, which focuses on prevention education and social services for individuals with substance abuse disorder, joined LCH at this meeting.  By including clinical providers such as LCH, along with local non-clinical partners working with individuals working to overcome substance abuse, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation hopes to contribute to ending the substance abuse epidemic in the Philadelphia region.

Read the online version posted  by the Daily Local.