Forty Carrots Family Center recently received a grant of $5,000 from the Our Sarasota Fund and the McCauley-Brown Fund of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to provide individual and family therapy services to low income LGBTQIA youth and their families. This launched a Client Assistance Fund specifically for the members of the LGBTQIA community in need of experienced, compassionate care and affordable mental health services. “LGBTQIA youth’s emotional health can be negatively impacted because of discrimination, bullying, and a lack of understanding about the unique needs of the LGBTQIA community. Often, the fear of coming out and being discriminated against can lead to depression, thoughts of suicide, and substance abuse,” says Carla Johanns, Forty Carrots clinical supervisor. LGBTQIA individuals are almost 3 times more likely than others to experience a mental health condition such as major depression or generalized anxiety disorder, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.  This grant enables Forty Carrots to meet the needs of some of our community’s most at-risk youth. 

Forty Carrots