Family and Youth Counseling to benefit from $100,000 Johnson and Johnson grant
John Guidroz
A $100,000 grant provided by the Johnson and Johnson Foundation will aid the Family and Youth Counseling Agency in helping women who are struggling with depression or grief during or after a pregnancy. The grant will ensure women have better access to the essential medical services that have been lacking since Hurricanes Laura and Delta.
The grant is provided to the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana, which is working with Family and Youth to help expecting mothers needing mental health care. Sara Judson, Community Foundation CEO, said Monday that Johnson and Johnson reached out to the foundation to find out which services women and children in Southwest Louisiana are needing the most since the hurricanes.
“Johnson and Johnson Foundation’s interests were a good match for the counseling services provided by Family and Youth,” she said.
Family and Youth will work with various hospitals, pediatricians and other medical professionals in the five-parish area to get referrals on residents needing services. The goal is to offer affordable services to women suffering from postpartum depression.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that one in eight women nationwide suffer from postpartum depression. The CDC also stated that more people are seeking counseling services since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Hurricanes Laura and Delta, in addition to COVID-19, have led to more reports of postpartum depression, according to Julio Galan, Family and Youth president and CEO. The goal of working together with local health care providers is to ensure women, their children and families
have an improved quality of life, he said.
Online: fyca.org, foundationswla.org
Special to the American Press