Bonnie Brae One of Seven Finalists for Impact 100 Garden State 2020 Grant
Bonnie Brae is pleased to have been chosen as an Impact 100 Garden State 2020 Grant Finalist. Three winners will be chosen and each will receive a $100,000 grant. Bonnie Brae's proposed program is an expansion of their current Intensive In Community Services Program to include additional therapies for youth and families including: art therapy, yoga therapy and animal assisted therapy.
Bonnie Brae is a leader in pioneering programs and therapies that successfully heal families, and aims to help families in their community struggling with trauma, mental health, emotional management, addictions and other family stressors. For more than 100 years, Bonnie Brae has been successfully treating and healing some of the most challenging youth in the state. As evidenced from their 3 year outcomes, Bonnie Brae youth whose treatment includes these types of complementary therapies: are more successful both short and long term; they are employed at higher rates; have less recidivism and greater emotional resilience; have fewer encounters with the justice system and less substance use; and better educational outcomes.
Brief mental health therapies represent an alternative approach to ongoing treatment and support that help youth and families develop and maintain the long-term lifestyle changes many have worked so hard to achieve. Yoga, Art and Animal-Assisted therapies have been shown to build individual and family coping skills, and promote connections with others and their community. These mediums serve as an alternative or complement to pharmacologic treatment and can contribute to reduction of stress, anxiety and depression, which contribute to improved physical and behavioral health outcomes for the individuals and the long-term well-being of the family.
Bonnie Brae Chief Executive Officer, Paul Rieger shared, "We are so grateful to Impact 100 for recognizing the impact this program could have. In 2016, we created new mission and vision statements for Bonnie Brae. Our vision is to 'transform more lives of youth and families' and this program is in direct alignment with this vision. It will allow us the opportunity to share our expertise treating youth and families with the larger community. The pandemic has intensified the need for behavioral health services and because we have the ability to deliver services virtually via teletherapy, geographic limitations have been removed, providing us with the ability to help and reach even more youth and families."
Impact 100 winners will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony on July 8th. The other finalists are: Caring Contact of Westfield; Cornerstone Family Programs of Morristown; Family Promise of Summit; Homeless Solutions Inc.of Cedar Knolls; Norwescap of North Plainfield; Zufall Health Center of Dover.
