Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service seeks board members, donations
The community resource seeks leaders—and more financial love,
BY DEBORAH SKOLNIK
It’s easy to take SCFS for granted—but our community need it more than ever.
Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Services (SFCS) is a true community institution, providing counseling services and support programs to local people young and old. Now, says Executive Director James (Jay) Genova, SFCS is eagerly seeking new board members—as well as financial donations from people in both towns.
Those who step up will be supporting a vital and distinguished nonprofit. “We’ve been in existence since 1920, and over the 105 years, we have evolved and our service has changed,” Genova said. Since its inception as an outgrowth of the Women's Club during and after Great Depression, SCFS has gone through numerous incarnations. “So, while our organization is very rich in history, we still see ourselves as progressive and constantly evolving to meet the challenges of the modern day family. Yet we still hold onto the core values of what made this agency who it is,” Genova shared.
Community care, national quality
Another thing that makes SCFS unique is quality of its sevices. “We receive national accreditation. We can truthfully say and proudly say that we operate in alignment with best practice standards,” Genova said. '“Many times people may think a community agency or a clinic type service is maybe not as good, but I can assure you that we operate according to best practice standards. In 2023, when our site visit concluded, we not only received our accreditation, but we had no areas of deficiency,” Genova proudly said.
“We understand the communities of Scarsdale and Edgemont—the unique cultures that go along in these communities, which the culture is affluence,” Genova continued. Affluent families are not immune to all of society's social ills. In fact, they have a unique set of risk and protective factors.”
For instance, he said, communities with a lower socioeconomic level might have low neighborhood attachment, high crime rates, and reduced access to healthcare and education. “But Scarsdale has higher rates of anxiety and depression amongst its teens,” Genova noted. In addition, we our incidence of substance is higher than the national average. “We are available and prepared to intervene and to support our families and especially our teens,” he added.
Increasingly rare independence
It’s easy to assume that SCFS is one of many similar organizations. But look around at towns in our area, and you’re unlikely to find another counseling service like it. “Prior to the turn of this century, many other communities had community counseling agencies. But most have become satellites of a larger organization, or no longer exist,” Genova said. “In Westchester, I am unaware of any other organization [like ours]. Wow. I believe we are the last remaining private family counseling agency that is freestanding.”
Another fact many people might not realize is that SCFS isn’t only geared towards teens. “That [misconception] is because we have a very strong presence within the school district through our youth services project,” Genova said. “And many people don't always realize that many of the services that exist [in the community] are tied back to the agency…Everything we do, we do in collaboration with our community partners, and so many times our role is maybe unrecognized. So for example, we have seven employees that work within the Scarsdale school district, two mental health professionals in the high school, three in the middle school, and two within the elementary schools.”
Help wanted
Now that you know a bit of what SCFS does (this is just the tip of the iceberg), why not throw your hat in the ring to lead it into the future? “Our nominating committee is now actively looking to the community to seek participation from interested community members to serve on the board,” Genova said. “Our board class would be inducted at our annual meeting in June, and would potentially serve a two-year period beginning July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2027. “
However, there is something else SCFS needs just as much—perhaps even more: broader community financial support. Genova invokes the memory of the late Scarsdale Inquirer as a warning. “The paper was another hundred-year-old organization that served the community and served it well,” he remembers. “The Inquirer staff had been ringing the bell for years saying, ‘Hey, we are not getting the same community support we used to, and if we don't, we may actually have to close.’ The paper’s staff moved to Central Avenue and people said, ‘Oh, that's too bad.’ And eventually the Inquirer closed, and everybody said, ‘Oh my God, what happened to the Inquirer?’ “
SCFS, Genova stresses, is in a similar position. “Our fundraising levels have not increased since 2014. We have community contracts and client fees, and we have grants available to us, but grants don't solve the bottom line. And over ten years, we have doubled the size of our staff and tripled the number of client sessions we offer just through our family counseling services.”
“We have some serious work to do to ensure that this agency sustains beyond the next two years.“”
Along with an increased presence in the community, the organization’s budget has doubled. “We are reaching a critical juncture,” Genvoa says. “Community support is many things—time, talent—but we also need donations. What we really need is for people to really consider their gifts in the letter of appeal this year. If you haven't given, we are asking people to maybe consider us part of their list of worthy organizations. And if people have given, we're asking them to consider an increased gift this year. Our very existence is not immediately in question, but we have some serious work to do to ensure that this agency sustains beyond the next two years.“
By expressing interest in joining the board, or giving generously—or dare we say both?—you’ll help make sure that SCFS is here now and long into the future.
Interested in becoming a part of the SCFS Board of Trustees? Apply by February 1, 2025 by sending a short email with the following information to SFCSNominatingCommittee@yahoo.com:
1. Volunteer/Professional Background
2. Community Experience in Scarsdale/Edgemont
3. Experience with SFCS
Join the SCFS in creating positive change in our community. You will make a difference in the lives of Scarsdale families and individuals.