The Newtown Lions Foundation Sandy Hook Elementary Fund

The goal of the Newtown Lions Foundation SHE Fund is to insure that all children and families, staff, and first responders, from the tragedy of the Sandy Hook Elementary School can obtain mental health care and counseling with no out of pocket expenses.  Our intention is to provide reimbursement for:

·         Counseling fees not covered by health insurance

·         Counseling fees for uninsured individuals

We recognize the ongoing need for counseling and mental health support for all individuals who were affected by this senseless tragedy throughout the community. We encourage individuals to seek counseling with the program or therapist of their choice. However, the Newtown Lions Club Foundation SHEF and the Collaborative Recovery Fund, due to the extreme financial demands of this assistance, cannot support individuals outside the criteria of the Children, families, Staff, and First Responders of the Tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 12th 2012. These funds were provided through charitable donations and are limited. In this way the most effected individuals will receive these benefits. Other assistance is available through the Newtown Health and Family services and we encourage those that do not meet this criteria to seek help through this organization or other private entities.

The goals of the Newtown Lions Club Foundation SHEF are very closely aligned with the Lions Clubs International Foundation mission “to help establish or expand Lions-initiated service projects that address critical and diverse human and social needs around the globe.”  In particular, we believe that we address LCIF’s Humanitarian Services area, which targets “critical health and human services not adequately addressed by governments and other funding sources.”  The Sandy Hook tragedy has deeply affected the entire Newtown Community but was especially traumatic for the surviving Sandy Hook Elementary children and their families, school staff and first responders.  We have been paying the costs of therapy since the tragedy and hope to be able to continue for many years.

The Connecticut Counseling Association has developed a list of licensed therapists in the area that have been trained in trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 

If your child attended Sandy Hook at the time of the tragedy or,  if you were a staff member or first responder at the time of the tragedy, you may be eligible for financial assistance for your therapy.  Please contact the Newtown Recovery and Resiliency Team Office at 203.270-4612, Extension 102. All counseling reimbursement requests will be handled in confidence. 

 Self Described strengths:

·         Newtown Lions Foundation is a registered 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt nonprofit fund

·         All donations to the fund are tax deductible

·         The Newtown Lions Foundation SHE Fund is endorsement of the Connecticut Counseling Association, the American Counseling Association and  Lions International

Self Described challenges:

• The Newtown Lions Club Foundation intends to keep the counseling fund active for many years. In the face of this overwhelming financial challenge we have partnered with three other organizations in town Newtown Rotary, Newtown Memorial Fund, and the Newtown Sandy Hook Community Foundation who are also providing similar aid to additional individuals effected by the tragedy. Together under the umbrella of the Collaborative Recovery Fund are serving over 400 individuals. In this partnership we are united organizationally in common purpose and stronger as a team to provide ongoing financial support to those most in need.

Fund raising goal:

• Our long term goal is to raise $3,000,000 which will supply counseling support for up to 10 years and hopefully see the Students of Sandy Hook Elementary through their graduating years of High School providing a supportive basis for these children during their most formative years of development.