PC&CC to Expand Low-Fee Options with New Fundraising Effort

PC&CC is launching a new fundraising effort to help extend counseling services to those facing financial difficulties. Through a donation option on its website, the nonprofit counseling agency is hoping to increase to its ability to offer more low-fee counseling.

“As it stands now, the therapists at PC&CC have volunteered to give 10 percent of their work to low-fee and/or pro bono counseling. But the need is much greater,” Executive Director Carl Siegel explains. “In order to service that need we must raise money. We are establishing a fund for low-fee counseling so that we can reach out to an even greater number of the underserved population.”

Anyone making a donation to PC&CC can be assured that 100 percent of it will be used to pay for low-fee counseling. Siegel adds that the need for these services is growing daily as the economy continues to tighten. “In tough economic times mental health counseling could be one of the first things to come off the budget, but it really may be the most necessary as it supports the rest of the person ability to function. This is not a luxury service,” he says.

Many of the counselors at PC&CC have chosen the nonprofit group as an alternative to private practice so that they are able to work with a diverse economic population. This fundraising effort enables them to widen this outreach. “Our personal and professional ethics motivate us, and require us to take an approach to counseling that honors cultural and economic diversity,” says PC&CC’s Bob Gordon. “I didn’t realize until I started working here how many requests for counseling come in from clients who otherwise go unserved. The pro bono work we take on is quite taxing to us personally, but it is heartbreaking and unacceptable to turn away clients in need.”

“When people are in pain, the last thing that comes to mind is often money,” notes PC&CC’s Cate Shea Riihimaki. “People want to feel better as soon as they can and should have access to the most qualified people available to help them begin healing. As money often dictates who can receive services and where, I am proud that PC&CC is working to remedy this problem.”