Executive Fiala Announces Two Major Grants to Assist Flood Victims
BINGHAMTON, NY - Broome County Executive Barbara J. Fiala and Broome County Mental Health Commissioner Art Johnson announced today that Broome County has received two major grants totaling nearly $500,000 to help provide mental health outreach and counseling for flood victims.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing nearly $265,000 for a program called Project Recovery. Project Recovery is a Broome/Tioga joint venture with the Mental Health Association being the provider agency. MHA has hired approximately 32 full time staff to do mental health outreach and referral for flood victims in Broome and Tioga Counties.
The New York State Office of Mental Health is providing nearly $230,000 for disaster case management. Catholic Charities of Broome County is the provider agency for this project. This funding will be used to hire four full time staff – three to work in Broome and one to work in Tioga County. These case managers will work with flood victims to develop individualized recovery plans and to access all possible financial and material resources to assist with that plan
Both of these projects are fully integrated into all of the other human service disaster recovery efforts that are occurring in Broome and Tioga Counties.
“Since the floods our mental health professionals have been on the front lines of this disaster providing mental health counseling to anyone who needs it,” said Executive Fiala. “This has been a terrible tragedy that has impacted so many people in our community. We need to look after our citizens’ physical health as well as their mental health to make sure they make a full recovery.”
“These funds are going to go a long way towards helping mental health professionals continue doing important work,” said Mental Health Commissioner Art Johnson. “We have all seen the physical destruction that has taken place as a result of the flood but often the stress on people’s lives that results from a disaster remains hidden and can lead to long term mental health issues if not addressed early enough.”
Johnson believes additional money to assist with these mental health programs will be forthcoming from both the federal and state government.
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