Mission and Outreach Update: Orion Family Services
Orion Family Services – An Outreach and Mission Effort of Windsor UCC
On December 20, from 1:00 to 4:00 Windsor UCC will host a Drive-through Live Nativity that will include the Holy Family, live animals, carolers and Mr. and Mrs. Claus. All proceeds will be donated to Orion Family Services Emergency Assistance Fund.
Orion Family Services is a private nonprofit organization that serves children with emotional and behavioral challenges, abused and neglected children, delinquent youth, and families struggling to meet the needs of their children. Orion’s services include:
- Intensive In-Home Therapy to an individual and/or family to address mental and behavioral health.
- Parent Skill Builder to improve positive parenting skills and support family members in building better relationships.
- Outpatient Therapy to individuals and/or families in an office-based setting by qualified mental health therapists.
- Community Services including in-home services, community support, skill development, respite, supervised visitation, and mentoring.
Orion specializes in the treatment of children and families impacted by trauma. Therapists are trained to provide Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which addresses complex trauma.
In September of 2020, Orion began the Orion Family Services Emergency Assistance Fund in response to critical needs of families. One-time grants of up to $500 are provided to help families who are experiencing an urgent need. In the past few months, this fund has helped pay back rent due to illness of the primary wage earner, covered the cost of furnishing a bedroom for a child being returned to the family home after a lengthy foster home placement, paid for gas so that a youth and her parent could travel to Madison to receive specialized trauma treatment, and paid for two months of internet service and headphones for a family with three young boys to allow them to do on-line learning at home rather than in the school parking lot where they had been accessing free Wi-Fi.
Windsor UCC recently agreed to allow Orion therapists to use space for providing services when a home has been determined to be unsafe due to risk of Covid-19.
Orion has a long-standing connection with the UCC Church through the Council for Health and Human Services Ministries (CHHSM). More information about Orion’s Family Services Emergency Assistance Fund please visit the CHHSM website:
Orion Family Services Creates Emergency Assistance Fund – CHHSM
For more information about Orion please visit: Orion Family Services
Financial contributions to Orion can be made online at WindsorUCC/Give (choose the Orion FS Fund)