Spreading Light & Warmth

Grace and peace to you. The theme of this summer newsletter, Spreading Light and Warmth, seems so appropriate as the team here at Anew Day endeavors to do just that. Articles in this newsletter come to us from one of our first Lay Counselors, two Group Facilitators, and one of our Professional Therapists. These are some of the many voices of Anew Day, and their stories show how we’re responding to today’s mental health care crisis - not with fear, but with hope and action.

Yes, the crisis is real. There’s a nationwide increase in mental health care needs and a growing shortage of mental health care workers. Wait-lists are long, burnout is high, and millions of people can’t access the care they need. But at Anew Day, we believe we’re part of the solution.

Our model is grassroots, non-profit, and community-based care that is offered without condition to those who knock at our door. Here’s how we’re answering the call:

• Free Lay Counseling

• Free Support Groups

• Free Community Education and Training Program

• Free therapy for First Responders

• Affordable professional therapy

All that Anew Day does is only possible because of people like you. Your generosity, prayers, and encouragement sustain our work and expand our reach. Want to support Anew Day and have a great time? Join us at our Annual Fundraiser BBQ on Saturday, June 21st! It’s a fun, relaxed day to gather, connect, and help ensure this work continues. Thank you for believing in this mission and in the people behind it.

Bless you and your loved ones,

Gregory Ingram

Executive Director

How To Support Anew Day

Mental Health in 2025: A Growing Need, A Shrinking Workforce

Across the country, millions are seeking mental health care, but an alarming shortage of providers is making it harder than ever to meet this growing need. Currently the United States is short more than 30,000 mental health workers, leaving millions Americans with insufficient access to care. For those who can get an appointment, waits can exceed 12 weeks, and in rural communities, the situation is worse. At the same time, mental health professionals are facing burnout at unprecedented levels, with many leaving the field.

These challenges have created a perfect storm for mental health care in America, as the demand for services continues to rise, the number of qualified providers continues to shrink.

At Anew Day, we’re directly addressing this storm. We operate our own training center, where we train the next generation of counselors and therapists to help address the shortage. Our training center educates and mentors Trainees (graduate students working toward their master’s degrees and earning supervised hours), Associates (clinicians who have completed their degrees and are accruing 3,000 hours required for licensure), and the bedrock of our organization, our Lay Counselors (community volunteers who receive extensive training). By training future professionals and dedicated volunteers, we’re not only addressing the shortage, but we’re also building a sustainable, community-driven workforce to provide care.

But it doesn’t stop there. At Anew Day, our model thrives through community support. Volunteers, donors, and countless other contributors all come together with our staff and fully licensed practitioners to care for our community. Our doors are open to all, regardless of background, beliefs, or ability to pay. As we at Anew Day have been unconditionally loved by God, we are called to love others “…just as Christ loved us…” (Ephesians 5:2).

We believe in the power of grassroots models to make a real difference, especially when traditional systems are stretched thin. WE INVITE YOU to join us in this important work. Whether through donations, offering your time, or simply spreading the word, your support helps ensure that those in need of mental health care can find the services they deserve.

Together, we can create lasting change in this time of increasing mental health needs and decreasing practitioners so that everyone can access the support they need.

How To Support Anew Day

What Is The Value Of A Building?

As we celebrate the one year anniversary of moving into our new office on Gold Flat Road, it seems like a perfect time to reflect on what this building has meant to the ministry and mission of Anew Day. How has the building itself been a part of spreading hope in our community?

It was with thoughtful intention that this space was created to be a warm and welcoming environment for each client that comes seeking healing, growth and wellness. The counseling rooms were identically furnished so that if a client's session needs to be in a different room than usual, it still feels familiar to them. For some of our clients, the space is so dramatically different from their home that they have remarked that this is the “only place” or the “first place” they have ever felt truly safe.

Sound mitigation was a high priority and has made the rooms peaceful and calm, but what difference does this make? One client who came from an abusive home would startle in alarm with loud sounds that could be heard through the walls of our old office (despite our use of noise muffling sound machines). Her counselor remarked with joy about the difference our quieter rooms had made in allowing the client to feel safe and secure during their session. The client had been able to talk through the entire session without startling.

We also chose to make some specialty rooms. A youth room with multiple sensory objects, fidget objects, and decor that take away the clinic feel and give the room a cool, hang out vibe. One teen touring the building commented, “If I ever come here this is the room I'd want.” That is exactly what we were hoping for!

Additionally, we now have a room for emotional support animals for our two counselors who bring therapy dogs as well as for our clients who bring their emotional support dogs with them. As clients look at painful and traumatic parts of their lives, having this critical part of their support system present can be incredibly calming and helpful in making them feel safe.

Small groups use our art room. From Let Your HeART Speak art group to our weekly Women’s or Men’s Support Groups, to our Counseling Skills Workshop Training, this has been their safe place. More than once these groups have been offered the opportunity to move to our larger meeting room if they need more space and the response has been, “But this room feels so cozy and safe.”

You may have noticed the repeating theme of feeling safe. The design choices were intentional so we could meet the need clients have to feel safe because feeling safe is a prerequisite to being able to heal and grow.

This space is larger than our previous office and that has enabled us to place more clients. When we had limited space, we had some days where, due to staff availability, we had more counselors than rooms and couldn’t schedule clients for those potential sessions. With 14 counseling rooms, we now are able to schedule every hour our counselors generously donate to meet with our clients.

Lastly, as our staff of Lay Counselors has grown this year, we have been able to continue meeting as one group in our very large conference room. This has meant so much to our Lay Counseling team because it is the one time all week we can be together. We have even been able to invite the professional team to our meetings and monthly potluck lunches benefiting both teams with the opportunity for mutual encouragement and the sharing of learning and resources.

Whether we view the building through the eyes of our clients or our staff, we are grateful for the provision of such a beautiful, functional, safe space that enables us to better serve our community because that is our passion and our purpose.

Julie Bousfield

Lay Counseling Supervisor