First County Bank Foundation Supports Local Emergency Mobile Psychiatric Team

By Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut

STAMFORD, CT/July 8, 2013 – The Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut (CGC), a local non-profit mental health outpatient center for children and adolescents, received a $12,000 grant from the First County Bank Foundation to support Emergency Mobile Psychiatric Services (EMPS) in Stamford, Greenwich, Darien and New Canaan.

            With an emphasis on youth suicide and violence prevention, the EMPS team provides immediate mental health assessment and crisis stabilization services to young people experiencing serious psychiatric symptoms and severe reactions to a recent traumatic event.  Services are available 7 days a week and are provided wherever they are needed: at home, school, or in the larger community.

CGC is designated by the State Department of Children and Families as the provider of EMPS in Stamford, Greenwich, Darien and New Canaan, when a local call is placed through the 24 hour 2-1-1 system for crisis intervention. Over the past year, members of the EMPS team have responded to several intense crisis situations, and were part of the state wide mobilization of EMPS teams deployed to Newtown after the tragic mass school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. More recently, when a 12 year old boy drowned in the waters off Cove Beach in Stamford, the team was called to the scene by Stamford Police to provide assistance to the child’s friends, who witnessed the drowning and tried to save him.

Richard Zaremski, Senior Vice President of First County Bank, noted “we are amazed at the scope of critical services provided by the Child Guidance Center, and proud to support its capacity to prevent suicides and violence and deliver critical services when tragedy strikes our community.”

Established in 2001 in honor of the bank’s 150th anniversary, the First County Bank Foundation was created to distribute funds annually to nonprofit organizations that support community and economic development; increase the availability of affordable housing and programs that support the quality of life and educational enrichment for families and children.  As a mutual bank with no shareholders, First County Bank considers contributions made by the foundation a means of paying dividends back to the local communities it serves. 

“Like we say on our website, we’re not just bankers. We’re also your neighbors,” said Rey Giallongo, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First County Bank and President of the Foundation. “We have a longstanding relationship with the people we serve and have always strived to make our community a better place to live.”

The Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut (CGC) serves children, from birth to 18, both self-referred and through referrals from schools, physicians, courts, and public and private human service agencies. CGC’s clinical staff of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and other clinicians work with more than 2,000 children annually, providing culturally competent and sensitive care to families. Preventative services are provided to youngsters, parents, and professionals through community education and consultation programs.

Incorporated in 1954, CGC is supported by the Connecticut Department of Children & Families, Connecticut Office of Victim Crime Services, and the United Way. CGC is a beneficiary of generous individual, foundation, and corporate contributions. If you are concerned that your child is troubled, unhappy or anxious, please do not wait until it is an emergency to reach out. If you would like to get help for your child or simply would like to learn more about professional mental health services, please call the Child Guidance Center at (203) 324-6127.

www.childguidancect.org

First County Bank, headquartered in Stamford, Conn. for more than 160 years, is an independent mutual community bank with 15 branches in Stamford, Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk and Westport offering deposit products, mortgages, trust and investment services, business banking services and online banking.  For additional information, please visit www.firstcountybank.com.