For the past several years, Pelham Together has been helping families find mental health-care providers. Since the pandemic, the number of people seeking assistance has increased immensely. However, finding this type of treatment comes with many challenges.

“Pelham Together found there were several barriers to finding therapists for residents,” said Laura Caruso, Pelham Together’s executive director. “Many therapists raised their prices and do not take a broad amount of insurances.”

As a result, a lot of people were unable to afford the help they needed. To address the problem, Pelham Together put together a counseling program “to make a small dent in what’s going on in our community,” Caruso said.

The new counseling program’s director, Kimberly Trapasso, starts work on Jan. 23. Trapasso has more than 11 years of social-work experience. She has worked with many parents and families and has overseen graduate social-work interns. Trapasso will be tasked with operating the counseling program. Pelham Together staff will be reaching out to graduate schools to find students who need field hours to satisfy their degree requirements and can provide therapy sessions for young people.

The program plans to aim for in-person sessions but will be flexible based on the needs of the community.

“We are still open to the idea of virtual sessions,” said Caruso. “What we are committed to is meeting the needs that people have. We are hoping that the program becomes what Pelham needs it to be.”

Counseling will be offered for children and young adults, ages 7-21, at the start. The age of residents seeking mental-health providers is getting “younger and younger,” Caruso said. To keep the service updated and accurate, the organization plans on continuous reevaluations to see what the community needs.

Pelham Together’s counseling program will not require individuals have health insurance in order to obtain services. The fees will be based on a sliding scale and will match whatever the family is earning.

Caruso said Pelham Together is hoping to launch the program “as soon as possible.” For updated information, go to the Pelham Together website.