Our Mission

HELPING PARENTS NAVIGATE CHILDHOOD MENTAL HEALTH

CSD Ben’s Place is a non-profit organization formed for the purpose of assisting families to navigate the challenges of childhood mental illness. For the Ben’s Place Board, we think of the mission as “helping parents save their kids and themselves from unthinkable loss and sorrow.”

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Ben’s Place will initially partner with the Golisano Children’s Hospital to connect parents with the wide range of services and programs focused on Childhood and adolescent Mental Health. This engagement starts with a call to a Ben’s Place Volunteer who will work with parents to educate them about the fantastic programs offered by Golisano and ultimately connect them with the appropriate level of care and/or program. Volunteers will be required to tour all the Golisano facilities and will be  provided detailed information about the specific options and programs available. The volunteers will also have information available regarding outside therapists who are taking in new clients, other local mental health providers such as Rochester General Hospital and many local non-profits that offer programing related to or supportive of improved mental health.

Looking more long term, Ben’s Place is committed to providing permanent supportive housing for families with a dependent child that suffers from severe and persistent mental illness. These families will be able to apply for a beautiful rent regulated apartment where social workers and mental health providers will be on-site and ready to support their path to wellness and to alleviate the stress of parenting a child whose mental illness is unpredictable and beyond the ability of the Parents to handle alone.

Ben’s Place will also look to develop support groups focusing on parents who either have successfully stabilized the mental health of their children or who are currently navigating active mental illness with their children. We also plan to develop a library/resource referral program with books, podcasts and other resources surviving families have found helpful and to fund scholarships and facility expansion to increase the amount of available mental health providers and physical resources in our community.

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Taken together, Ben’s Place mission is to help parents stabilize the childhood mental health challenges they are facing on a daily basis, connect families to the services they need to heal and for their child to flourish, protect our clients and our community from the tragedy of childhood suicide and expand the availability of mental health care in our community.