WillowsEdge Counseling and Arts Center is moving forward on a plan to provide a broader range of mental health services to local residents regardless of their ability to pay. The center has taken the steps to become a non-profit organization with the ability to receive funding to increase the access to services.
‘By becoming a non-profit, we hope to eliminate the barriers that keep people from getting the help they need,? says WillowsEdge founder Karen Smigelski.
Part of the new vision is a new name ? WillowsEdge Healing Arts Center ? and a new location ? 51 S. Washington in downtown Oxford. In addition to counseling and art therapy, the center will provide a wider array of services in a collaborative environment that will initially include a holistic health coach, a life coach, a massage therapist and martial arts with more services from other community partners added later.
The kickoff fund-raising event for the new WillowsEdge is the first annual ‘Cruise for a Cause? aboard the Grand Princess riverboat during the July 4 fireworks on Lake Orion. The four-hour cruise will and include food, music, giveaways and artist Daniel Cascardo’s interactive Art Action Experience, which will allow cruisers to participate in the painting of a mural. The cruise will also include a silent auction with online bidding as well. Tickets are $50 and are available at www.WillowsEdge.net or by calling (248) 834-0614.
WillowsEdge has been serving the community since 2011, providing individual and group mental health counseling for families, children, teens and adults. Using a variety of techniques, including art therapy, counselors have helped young people experiencing emotional, physical or cognitive difficulties, PTSD, trauma or loss. Other areas of specialty include substance abuse, gambling addiction, anxiety, anger management, relationship difficulties, academic guidance, personality dysfunction, grief counseling, parenting, behavioral issues and coping with depression, illness and divorce. Residents of Oxford, Lake Orion, Clarkston, Rochester and Lapeer have benefited from WillowsEdge services.
Smigelski, who leads the counseling staff, is a former art teacher in Oxford schools, as well an Oakland Community College adjunct faculty member and an administrator of PowerPath, an engagement, screening and intervention tool that identifies learning challenges and provides success strategies tailored to each learning style.