Summer 2023: A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, publisher, BeInkandescent Health & Wellness magazine — It’s an honor to introduce our readers to Lauren Foster, founder of The Powerful Project. With more than 25 years of experience in leadership, advocacy, education, and clinical services, Lauren’s commitment to and compassion for children and families, as she has always been reaching across professions and practices to create an interdisciplinary community of caring.
In addition to her training in Speech-Language Pathology, Lauren is a Certified National Healthcare Practitioner (CNHP), Positive Discipline Educator, and Better Brains for Babies (BBB) trainer. She has led the development of community education and outreach programs, and her work and writing have been included in numerous publications, including The Late Talker by Dr. Marilyn Agin & Lisa Geng, 365 Days of Baby Love by Sheila Ellison, and Cure Your Child with Food by Kelly Dorfman. Currently, Lauren serves as the Assistant Director and Family Enrichment Coordinator at Perspectives Center for Holistic Therapy.
An inner drive to lend a helping hand, advance the profession, and provide mentorship, Lauren has presented at conferences hosted by various organizations and developed The Healthy Foundations Speaker Series. Lauren continues to inspire and ignite action in others, further expanding the circle of compassionate connection. Her personal journey through her own life experiences as well as her professional role, working to support families navigating their challenges, have motivated the creation of The Powerful Project.
Her experiences have further solidified her motto: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
Lauren says: The Powerful Project’s mission is to increase access to mental health services and resources for children, teens, and families stuck in the middle (families who make too much to qualify for government-subsidized programs but lack the financial resources to address mental health issues adequately). The Mental Health Match addresses challenges of stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues affecting children and teens by looking at what is needed by the youth presenting for treatment and addressing issues within the family system. We were founded by therapists who have worked for years with families and have learned that the child thrives when the family system is healthy.
We utilize a unique three-pronged approach to making a difference.
- Our first prong is the person or family who applies with us for services. This person or family finds us when they are seeking therapy and cannot afford to go often enough or have multiple members of a family who need services. Our lens is broad, and we recognize that when there is a problem with a child in the family, the entire family is affected. Our applicants are vetted to make sure they are committed to investing their time, energy, and finances so they can afford to work either in a group or individual therapy. Our applicants come from many walks of life, including immigrants, those with special needs, refugees, LBGTQ+, and neurodiverse populations.
- The second prong is our professional partners. The Powerful Project curates relationships with a variety of highly skilled clinicians who share our vision for making mental health services more accessible. We carefully match each applicant with a therapist that best fits their needs rather than merely assigning a client to the next therapist on the list. This increases the efficacy and efficiency of treatment. Our professional partners contribute to the system by accepting a lower rate and working with our referrals to create a targeted treatment plan for them and/or their families.
- The third prong of our approach to making a difference is our donors. These include individual and corporate donors as well as any grants we may receive. These contributions fill in the gaps for the applicants seeking therapy and the clinicians providing therapy.
Addressing these concerns, one individual at a time can make a huge impact on society. The benefits translate to a happier population of youths, fewer suicides, more connected relationships, as well as lower healthcare costs for everyone. The Mental Health Match program is in its first year of being an official 501(c)(3) organization and has the vision to expand nationally.
This approach builds upon a vetted network of clinicians, a streamlined application process, and a robust system for tracking outcomes.
In 2020, many hard-working families could not afford mental health support amid an international pandemic. 901,000 youths with private insurance lacked coverage for their mental and emotional problems. Other families faced high deductibles or low coverage, making treatment unaffordable: mhanational.org.
Families are benefiting from the services they are receiving. We would be honored to share more information and stories with you. With consistent funding, we can change the trajectory of so many lives. Thank you for considering donating to The Powerful Project Inc, 501c(3).
Learn more about The Powerful Project here: powerfulproject.org.