Tuesday, 9/11: the world watched in horror as two hijacked airplanes bought down the Twin Towers. Children of the City was one of the first programs to reach out to children who lost family members and loved ones, who were traumatized by visually seeing the attacks live or were exposed to the barrage of media attention. Years later, the effects of that day are not forgotten—we continue to counsel with these children and their families, most of whom would otherwise not have received help to cope with this devastating trauma in their lives.
According to Erickson’s Developmental Stages, children who experience trauma have typical reactions that hinder them from completing one stage of development. For young children, 9/11 created feelings of helplessness, fear, and general regression. Children ages 6-11 were unable to focus on school work resulting in many being held back to repeat the grade. The good news is that more than 600 children and youth were served to-date through Heal New York. Counseling sessions have been provided in the homes monthly. Coupled with the counseling have been group therapeutic activities, including art and play therapy, sports, and journaling, at our facility which ran from September 2001 through August 2005.
With support from the Robin Hood Foundation, Children of the City expanded its Heal New York counseling program to a broader populace of children due to the large amount of pre-existing trauma and prevailing mental health issues. This detection, followed by adequate counseling and instruction for both parents and children, ensure that destructive behavioral patterns are not perpetuated from generation to generation.
