December 18, 2003

Dear Member:

This action alert provides an updated list of mental health outlets and support groups available in your area.  Based on member feedback from our last request for your assistance (sent last week), we were able to add more information.  There are family members, however, who have written and are still looking for support in their region of the country.  Please review the list and let us know of any additional resources you know in those areas.  Email us directly at http://www.info@familiesofseptember11.org.  Thank you for your ongoing support.

FOS11 Family Members are still looking for additional support groups in:

California
San Francisco Bay Area, CA 

New York
Long Island, NY

Albany, NY

Syracuse, NY
I lost my brother and his son aboard UA 175.  Do you know of any support groups or services in the Syracuse, NY area? 

Delaware 

Florida
Boca Raton, FL

Port St. Lucie, FL
There are no groups near me in Port St. Lucie, Florida.  I have contacted and have been in email contact with a volunteer from ACCESS which has been helpful.  Otherwise, assistance is no where to be found.  Please help.

Jacksonville, FL
I would love to find a support group in Jacksonville, FL.  If you could request information from other members (in Florida or with a connection to Florida) as well I would appreciate it. 

If you have any recommendations for 9/11 support groups in these areas of the country, please email us at http://www.info@familiesofseptember11.org as soon as possible.  We hope to continue connecting families with resources, and your help is imperative to this effort.  Send us more input - we will continue expanding this list and share it with all of you.  Let us keep reaching out to other families - especially at this time of year.   

GENERAL FAMILY SUPPORT
There is an email group at http://www.griefnet.org for anyone who has experienced loss.  “I have been a member of a group for over a year now and it has been wonderful.  I belong to an e-mail group for parents who have lost adult children.  There are groups for spouses, siblings, friends, etc.  I send and receive e-mail every day from parents who have lost their adult children.  I am the only 9/11 mom in the group right now, but I highly recommend it for anyone who has lost a loved one.  There is nothing like sharing feelings safely with people who know how it is.

Bill Doyle - Resource Contact - (718) 948-2538
http://www.joeydoyle.com  

STATE BY STATE SUPPORT GROUPS
Connecticut
For Connecticut Resources, please visit http://www.infoline.org and look at their September 11th Resources page for support groups. 

California
For California resources please call Anita Ahuja at (916) 445-8452.  There will be a statewide support group for 9/11 family members, victims and survivors on Saturday, December 6th in Los Angeles.  Therapists from the UCSF Trauma Recovery Center will facilitate the event.  For more information please call Anita Ahuja at (916) 445-8452.    

The only support group available in the San Francisco Bay Area is the one you already have and that is through the Victim's Compensation Board (Anita Ahuja is the contact person).  Other than that, there are no formal groups, nor have there ever been, for the families out here except for the one listed above run by the State of California.  Those monthly support group meetings will be ending at the end of the year, with a couple of follow ups scheduled for next year.  The families in California are virtually invisible; if you speak about 9/11, people turn away; they don't want to hear it anymore.  That's just the way it is; too far removed from it, except of course, for those who were personally affected by it; we're still here!! 

Massachusetts
For Massachusetts resources, please visit http://www.massfund.org. 

Michigan
We have a Michigan Families of 9/11 Support Group that meets monthly at Ward Presbyterian Church located at 40000 Six Mile Road, Northville, Michigan.  Our group is facilitated by Cathy Clough of New Hope Center for Grief Support, also of Northville, Michigan.  We have been meeting since June 2003, and it has been a tremendous help in learning to deal with the loss of our loved ones.  Also, it has been very comforting meeting other 9/11 families.  I have found the meetings to be very beneficial on the path to healing.  Cathy Clough can be reached by phone at 248-348-0115 or by email at http://www.griefhelp2003@yahoo.com.  

New York
Brooklyn
Lutheran Hospital - Healthy Connections
6025 6th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY  11220
Please contact Sarah Russ at (718) 630-7186 

Long Island
South Nassau Communities Hospital
Rockville Centre, Long Island, NY
Call the crisis center at 516-678-2700 to find out more info.  Adult and children groups are available. 

World Trade Center Family Recovery and Bereavement Center
Rockville Centre, Long Island, NY 

South Nassau Communities Hospital Group
Oceanside, Long Island, NY 

Bereavement Groups
North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center
480 Old Westbury Road
Roslyn Heights, NY  11577
(516) 626-1971
My bereavement group which was and still is at the heart of my recovery is North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center… Kathy Morse and Michelle Spitalnic were most instrumental in leading us to recovery. In addition, the Red Cross, in Manhattan, was helpful in obtaining financial help. 

Staten Island
Support Group for Widows and Widowers
Dr. Deborah Derman
Dr. Kim McLaughlin
Castleton Hill Moravian Church
Victory Boulevard
Staten Island, NY
(215) 643-7206
Kim is a family psychologist on Staten Island and Deborah is a grief counselor from Philadelphia, PA. 

Westchester
Westchester Bereavement Center (Bronxville)
Treehouse (monthly meetings with spouses and children)
Patty Donovan Duff (Director)
(914) 961-2818 x317 

Child Bereavement
Weill Medical College (NY Weill Cornell Medical Center)
Dr. Cynthia Pfeiffer MD  
(914) 997-5849
Individual therapy sessions are available for children.
After 9/11/01 I have been meeting with my bereavement group in Westchester and have found it very helpful for me and my two little girls. 

Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Full Circle Health
2105 Williamsbridge Road
Bronx, NY 10461
(718) 518-7600 

Parent's Bereavement Group
Spouse Loss
6 Week Bereavement Group
Monthly Support Group
Spanish Bereavement Group
Children’s Bereavement Group
Teen Age Bereavement Group
Dr. Derek Suite and/or Mrs. Darcel Suite
Calvary Hospital
1740 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10461
(718) 518-2125
These are two wonderful support networks which I personally have used. 

New Jersey
Dr. Jacob Kind
90 Booth Avenue
Englewood, NJ 07631-1907
(201) 568-1207. 
Dr. Kind employs a therapeutic tool called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).  This method helped me to overcome the trauma of the event as well as open the doors to peace of mind in the form of tolerance, patience and acceptance. 

Virginia
There is a group that meets specifically for 9/11 families at a church with space for spouses and children to meet in separate rooms at the same time.  The group is sponsored by the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board.  Please contact the coordinator of the program, Annmarie Bezold at 703-866-2119.  They meet on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month from 6:00-7:30pm.  The location is the Messiah Methodist Church in Springfield on Rolling Road just north of Old Keene Mill on the right side, across from the post office.
The support group I attend has been the absolute best thing for me in my healing.  It is a group that meets specifically for 9/11 families at a church with space for spouses and children to meet in separate rooms at the same time.… I highly recommend this group!! All are welcome!! 

I was tremendously helped by an organization called the Hospices of Northern Virginia....I honestly don't know if I would have made it without them.  I also attended a group for siblings of 9/11 victims that was very helpful, organized by the Jewish Social Services Agency in Rockville, Maryland. 

United Kingdom
I've received your email regarding support groups in various localities.  Please could you include details of our support group in London, England.  We are meeting monthly and the group is facilitated by a group therapist.  Further more information about the support group please email Jelena Watkins at http://www.jelena@mistral.co.uk.