Community Settlement Receives Foundation Grant

A $10,000 grant was recently received to expand the hours of Settlement’s family counseling program. The grant is from the Community Impact Fund at The Community Foundation, which aims to strengthen Inland Southern California through philanthropy. Riverside’s Community Settlement Association Executive Director Barbara Hanna said “We are excited to offer residents of the Eastside expanded hours of counseling. The demand is great and our service is terrific. Our counselor will now be available 30 hours a week.” Individual and family counseling has been provided at ‘Settlement House’ since 2009 to adults and children in both English and Spanish. Clients come to the program suffering from a wide range of mental health issues including depression, anxiety and severe stress. The program also provides counseling for relationship issues, parenting challenges, low self-esteem, anger management and past childhood abuse. The goal is to help clients address their mental health issues and achieve mental wellness. Settlement’s Family Counselor, Priscilla Rivera, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Science in Counseling & Guidance. She has been serving as a mental health professional for 14 years in the Inland Empire. Her experiences in both clinical and educational settings have allowed her to work with a wide array of clients over the past several years, particularly with low-income and uninsured families.