Cape Counseling Opens Family Center in Rio Grande

RIO GRANDE — Families in crisis have somewhere new to go with the opening of Cape Counseling Service’ Family Center, 1046 Route 47, on Wed., July 21.
The facility, located adjacent to and north of the Social Security Administration office, is within easy reach of public transportation, including NJ Transit buses and Cape May County Fare Free Transportation.
Joining in the opening was Greg Speed, Cape Counseling chief executive officer, Steve Marchiano, vice president of Finance and Administration, Sam Totora, director of Children and Families and Nancy Creelman, program manager, Family Placement and In-home Services.
Representing the county was Freeholder Gerald Thornton and Patricia Devaney, director of Human Services.
Creelman was credited by Totora for taking on the “exciting but daunting endeavor, in addition to her other duties as the manager of our In-Home and In-Community Services.”
He noted the agency is the entity that “Families have turned to…in their time of need, and we have been there in many different capacities.”
The center affords Cape Counseling to “be there for families in a new way, earlier in the process, before an everyday challenge becomes an overwhelming crisis. With the Family Center, we hope to intervene earlier to prevent life crises, and to empower and enrich families’ lives,” Totora said.
“We look to teach new skills, to connect families to needed resources, to reach out with a helping hand to families who might not know where to go for help, or might not know that there is help,” Totora stated.
Hours of operation will be posted, and they will be “convenient for our working families,” he said.
Families will be able to “drop in and speak to a counselor knowledgeable of the resources available to meet the family’s need,” he said.
Among services that the center will offer are:
• Parenting skills. To help their children navigate complex problems.
• Family Center Food Pantry, expected to open sometime in September. Will provide families in need with non-perishable food to supplement family dinners.
• In partnership with Caring for Kids will provide staff who works with new parents from pre-natal until the child’s enrollment in kindergarten. That “Parents as Teachers” program will teach parents needed facts as their children develop.
• Adventure based family fun nights, with fun activities aimed at helping families experience each other in new and different ways, and discover their innate strengths. To solve challenges.
Cited as “pillars” of the organization by Totora was Lauren Cramer, coordinator of Youth Case Management Program and Molly McKeefry, coordinator of Family Preservation Services Program.
The building is Cape Counseling’s second, its most recent being in Burleigh on Route 9, which opened last October.
Creelman said the agency is open to any Cape May County resident offering preventive services for families. Those services range from toddler groups to parenting groups.
Referrals are offered to families to other services.
She said the agency’s Youth Case Management serves 140; Family Preservation Services aid a dozen families at any given time.
Functional Family therapy is offered to 40 families.
The new center also has shower facilities where families in need may get showered.
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com