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Movies at Midway donated $5,000 to the Delaware Guidance Services for Children and Youth Inc. Thursday, Aug. 2, to construct a mental health clinic in Seaford. Atlantic Management Vice President Sabrina Hill presented a check to Bruce Kelsey, Delaware Guidance Service for Children and Youth Inc. executive director, at Movies at Midway.
Including the funds Movies at Midway donated, Delaware Guidance Service for Children and Youth Inc. (DGS) has raised $1.2 million for the clinic. The group remains $372,685 short of its $1.5 million goal.
DGS has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony later this month, at the new Herring Run Professional Center on Alternate Route 13 North in Seaford, for the new mental health clinic. With the new operation in place, DGS plans to triple the number of children and families served in western Sussex County. Additions to the services provided by DGS will include inpatient and outpatient clinical services and 24-hour mobile crisis intervention in Seaford. The current mobile crisis unit is based in Lewes, which means it may take close to an hour for children in danger to themselves or others to get proper care.
“Sometimes children’s mental health doesn’t get the recognition it needs,” said Hill, DGS board member. “They need a larger facility and hopefully this will help them to serve children with mental health needs.”
In addition to donations, DGS also receives government funding.
“We need funding from all sources,” Kelsey said. “Hopefully, this will inspire other local successful businesses.”
Kelsey noted the number of mental health practitioners across the country is falling. He said that DGS employs two child psychiatrists in Sussex County, which served more than 1,000 patients last year. Kelsey said the shortage of qualified individuals could be due to the difficult nature of the job. Still, Kelsey believes that there will always be an interest in providing treatment for those who need it.
“In the line of work we do, people have to have a big heart,” he said. “You may not be paid a lot, but you will be rewarded in other ways.”
DGS is a nonprofit organization designed to bring necessary treatment to children in need. Kelsey said that when an illness is treated at a young age, it could prevent a relapse later in life. Relapse may not necessarily mean a return of the illness. Kelsey also said alcoholism and drug addiction could result from not treating mental illness.
DGS has clinics in Lewes, Seaford, Dover, Newark and Wilmington. Last year it served about 8,000 children and their families. For more information, visit www.delawareguidance.org.
Contact Eddie Phillipps at eddiep@capegazette.com.
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