2011 Heart & Soul Gala Auction

to be held at Christie's on

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

• Youth Services
• Neighborhood Programs
• Elderly Services
• Women In Need

Fast Break - Mobile Mental Health Treatment Clinic for Children

ABC established New York City's first mobile mental health crisis and disaster team for children in 1996. Fast Break is a mobile mental health clinic that serves children who have not had access to traditional psychotherapeutic services.

Headquartered at Echo Park, Fast Break helps children and families cope with severe emotional pain. Fast Break's mental health staff also responds to crises and disasters which have included school shootings, suicides, church fires, plane crashes, the terror attacks, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, accidental deaths and murders by providing mental health assessment, counseling, support and therapeutic childcare.

Children are the first and most deeply traumatized by homelessness, loss, violence and disaster. They are the family members least able to withstand the emotional battering of poverty. Children born into poverty experience psychiatric problems at a significantly higher rate than children who are not poor. However, children who receive appropriate therapeutic intervention early in their development are much more able to experience success later in life.