Economic uncertainty and instability, high unemployment, increasing rates of divorce,  widespread violence, individuals choosing to stay single longer, emphasis on upward mobility, exodus to other States, tress, loss, change… these are all words that describe the current state of affairs in Western New York in 2009.  These are challenging times to be sure, and one of the things that have also changed, from our traditional views, is what constitutes a “family”. 

      Going back not that awfully long ago, a “family” was thought to consist of a mother, father, and their biological children.  Nowadays, there are so many “families” that some may not consider traditional, but they are families just the same. 

      Our Adoption Program has played a significant role in the bringing together  of families; uniting children from all over the world, Poland, Russian,

China, Viet Nam, Haiti, and Guatemala, with their parents.  And while they may not have a biological connection, these families have an emotional and spiritual connection that has a bond as strong any other more traditional family. 

      In our Counseling Program we have the privilege to serve many types of families, as well.  We have blended families, with parents and their children from previous relationships; single moms and single dads; individuals with no biological family members left, who have found family in their friends; we have multigenerational families where grandma and grandpa live with their children, and their grandchildren; nieces living with aunts because things are tough at home, and on it goes.  The truth is we have our biological family, but we also have the family members that we choose, and those individuals can be as important

and as close to us as our own family members; and in some cases, even more close. 

      The Medicaid Service Coordination Program serves many families in various settings.  There are those families made up of individuals with developmental disabilities living in Group Homes; living on their own in Supervised Apartment Complexes, and living with biological family members, in the Community, who help care for them. 

      Our Spiritual Care Program also serves a unique setting for families, and that is in assisted living centers and nursing homes.  Certainly these elderly folks who live together, eat together, and share their daily activities are a sort of family, too.

 

It is our hope and goal to not only serve as many “family” members as we can, but to treat all with respect, honor, love, and dignity whatever their origins, whatever their burdens.

 “Blest be the tie that binds...”

 

           Jolie R. Giardino, LCSW

                Clinical Supervisor