The town is availing itself of a Stamford-based nonprofit organization to help provide services to residents of affordable housing in New Canaan.
Members of the New Canaan Department of Human Services “have found there’s needed services possibly at Canaan Parish and Millport Apartments, bringing some information and help to those that might need it but aren’t aware of it,” Youth and Family Services Coordinator Jacqueline D’Louhy said during the March 3 meeting of the Health and Human Services Commission.
“So we’ve teamed up with Laurel House,” D’Louhy said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “They have a wonderful caseworker there that has offered to come to both sites.”
Laurel House offers a wide range of mental health services and programs throughout lower Fairfield County, including in New Canaan, according to the organization’s website. “Programs and services include recovery planning, life skills coaching and skill building, supported education, supported employment, ‘Thinking Well’ (cognitive remediation), housing and residential services, food service and wellness, social opportunities, and active outreach to individuals who might otherwise be isolated,” it says.
According to D’Louhy, Human Services is meeting with the company that manages the housing developments at Canaan Parish and Millport Apartments to “figure out how often—whether weekly or every couple of weeks—just to give the resources.”
“It’s not just behavioral health,” she added.
“A very one-stop shop, and we hope that will help reach those that we don’t necessarily know about,” D’Louhy said. “But we want them to feel comfortable going through it, through the management site. And I think they [Westmount Management] were very excited about it, too, because they’re very short-handed. But definitely these people are out there and we are just so grateful and glad, we hear about them and we do keep an ear and an eye to the ground to try to show them that Human Services is there to help our residents.”