WILMINGTON - Wilmington Family Counseling Services (WFCS) has provided more than 100,000 counseling and therapy sessions to over 11,750 client families and individuals during 40 years of service. “This is a very unique situation,” explained Carol Golub, Ph.D., Executive Director at WFCS since 1969. “There are only a handful of towns who support their own mental health services.”
Emil Berger, a Textron employee who felt it was important for local residents to have access to mental health services, founded Wilmington Family Counseling Services forty years ago so that residents would not have to travel to Lowell for such services.
Berger enlisted the help of attorney (and former Selectman) Jim Banda to set up a non-profit corporation. Berger found support for the idea from the Council of Churches and concerned members of the Wilmington community. Originally, the agency was funded by the Wilmington Community Fund, (which runs the food pantry), and had a first year budget of $3,000.
“I think they had a lot of foresight to do this because this was the beginning of a time when people began to appreciate the benefits of mental health organizations to individuals and families,” said Golub of Berger and Banda. “It was very much a grass roots organization,” she added.
In comparison, the non-profit agency now operates on an annual budget of more than $750,000 and is funded by the Town of Wilmington. Located at 5 Middlesex Avenue, it now has a staff of 23 professionals including a psychiatrist, psychologist, mental health counselors, licensed social workers, and psychiatric nurses. Their purpose is to provide “quality mental health services at a reasonable cost to the clients, and at a time convenient to their work and school schedules.”
For those in the Wilmington community without health insurance, the agency offers a sliding fee scale, which ranges from $15 - $125 per visit. Non-residents of Wilmington are also eligible for service, although they are not eligible for the sliding fee scale.
All client information is kept in the strictest confidence, and no information is revealed to any person or agency without written permission. Though the agency is accountable to the Board of Directors and the Wilmington Board of Health, client names are never revealed to either group.
Golub said that since they are funded by the town they feel it is their mission to “let people know that we are here as a resource when they need it.”
In addition to individual and family counseling, services also include workshops dealing with areas such as Parenting, Women’s Empowerment, Mindfulness Meditation, and a support group for diabetics in conjunction with a Senior Center grant for diabetes education. They also reach out to the community in school programs such as a Martial Arts Empowerment Program (funded by Merrimack Valley United Way) that will be held at the North Intermediate School and a Girls’ Leadership Program at the West Intermediate.
Golub said it has been very rewarding being director these many years and working collaboratively with the schools and the community. She explained, "What is still amazing to me after being a psychologist for all these years is that therapy works! People often think that talking to someone won't change anything. But it does. Having someone to listen, give a new perspective, suggest different coping strategies, can be crucial to resolving a crisis in healthier ways. It has been very rewarding providing a place where that can and has happened for so many people in our community."
Tasting Festival is Just Around the Corner
There’s still time to get your tickets to this year’s Evening of Gourmet Delights Tasting Festival to benefit the Wilmington Family Counseling Service. The festival will take place on Sunday, November 4, 5-7:30 pm at the Casa di Fior.
Golub said that there has been a real outpouring of support from the community. There are eleven participating restaurants donating enough food for 350 people, and donations of about 100 items for silent auctions and raffles.
Participating restaurants include: Back Street Grill, Casa di Fior, Country Chef, Delicious Desserts, Focaccia, Horseshoe Grill, Mango II Thai Cuisine, Mastrorilli’s Catering, Raphael’s Place and Catering, Rocco’s Restaurant, and Uptown Deli.
“This outpouring of support in celebration of our fortieth anniversary is very heartwarming,” Golub explained. “We are very lucky that even new businesses coming into the area have stepped forward to support us.”
Golub found an enthusiastic new sponsor this year in Patrick Subaru. Manager Mike Fitzgerald said that what makes Patrick Subaru different is that it is family owned and family operated and they really want to be involved in the community. Fitzgerald grew up in Wilmington and still has a lot of family in the area, so he is excited to be back in town. He sees this event as “an exceptional opportunity to do something good. We’ve been in town for a year now and we’re looking forward to more.”
This popular event has been a sell-out for the past several years. Tickets must be purchased in advance because no tickets will be sold at the door. Individual tickets are $25 each and tables are $225 each. Individual tickets are available at Focaccia, Uptown Deli, and the Wilmington T-Stop. Tables must be purchased at the Wilmington Family Counseling Service, Heritage Commons, 5 Middlesex Ave. For more information about the festival or to request counseling service, call 978-658-9889.
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