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At Center For Family Services, staff are recognized as the most valuable and greatest resource. The top workplace team at Center For Family Services consists of highly experienced experts in a variety of fields. Trusted staff are changemakers and thought leaders and are often the leading voice in how services are designed to best serve those in need.

The Expert Angle offers an outlet for highly talented staff to share their knowledge with you. This forum is a place where content experts share information on topics that most closely resonate with the work they do. The Expert Angle is a collection of blog entries where our staff can explore the various entities of Center For Family Services’ mission and programs from the point of view of an expert in that role. The blog is a platform to help communities, individuals, and other social service professionals to learn and grow.

Volunteer Service: A Pathway to Your Purpose

Posted on: May 27, 2021 | By: Marissa Cantu Director of Community Relations Development & Public Relations

There’s an intrinsic desire in all of us to be part of something bigger than ourselves. One of the best ways to do that is to be a volunteer. Growing up, service was seamlessly integrated into my life by my parents. Being of service to others and involved in my community, are core values that I’m lucky were passed down on both sides of my family.We all have a civic responsibility to take care of the world around us. Because of the systems in place, and the unequal distribution of and access to resources, not everyone has the available time, financial ability, or energy to volunteer in a…

Blog Tags: The Expert Angle, New Jersey, Volunteer, Service, AmeriCorps, Community Service, Corporate Volunteerism, Corporate Social Responsibility

Mental Health Wellness - Tips & Activities to Stay Grounded. Part III

Posted on: May 17, 2021 | By: Richard Lange, Ph.D., LPC, LCSW

There once was a psychiatrist in New York who worked with patients who were depressed. While he provided the usual treatment, he would add something out of the ordinary. He would ask all his patients to do a mitzvah. A mitzvah is a good deed, but not just any good deed. A mitzvah is a good deed where you are not expected to get anything back. You don’t expect an acknowledgment: it doesn’t give you points; you don’t get a reward; and you might not even get a thank you. You just do it because it’s the right thing to do. After assigning a mitzvah, the psychiatrist noticed that his patients…

Blog Tags: mental health, wellness, expert angle, mental health awareness month, well being, professional care, center for family services, social services

Mental Health Wellness - Tips & Activities to Stay Grounded. Being Social, Part II

Posted on: May 14, 2021 | By: Richard Lange, Ph.D., LPC, LCSW

In the previous post on mental health wellness, we talked about the need to meet with a friend face-to-face, either just talking or eating together. However, some people have only a few or no friends. In this post and the next, we share recommendations on how to be social even if you don’t have many friends. One way to start to be social is simply to be around people. Go to a park and sit where people are milling around or walking. Walk-in a shopping center and enjoy just being there. If you happen to live close to or near one of the shore towns, take a walk on the boardwalk. I knew a…

Blog Tags: mental health, wellness, The Expert Angle, mental health awareness month, well being, professional care, center for family services, social services

Mental Health Wellness - Tips & Activities to Stay Grounded. Part I

Posted on: May 6, 2021 | By: Richard Lange, Ph.D., LPC, LCSW

May is Mental Health Awareness month. This month, organizations and agencies publish articles on how to identify mental health issues and best treatment practices. This year we’d would like to take a slightly different approach and focus on mental health wellness. In the next few weeks, we will present activities that have been shown to improve mental health. These activities work for people who are currently in treatment, have been in therapy, and want to stay well, and those who have never been in treatment but want to simply improve their mental health. What does mental wellness mean?…

Blog Tags: mental health, wellness, mental health awareness month, health, well being, professional care, expert angle, center for family services

Navigating the Healthcare Marketplace in 2021

Posted on: April 22, 2021 | By: Lynn Perlmutter

Have you heard the news? Healthcare is more affordable than before! Center For Family Services’ Navigators are here to help. You might have heard in the news that 'healthcare insurance is more affordable than before! But what's that mean for you? Perhaps you’ve been getting job-based insurance for years, until COVID blew away the job – and the insurance. Perhaps you ran your own business until COVID came – and customers left. Perhaps insurance was too expensive, and you and your family went without. Since 2013, Center For Family Services has been at the forefront of getting New Jersey…

Blog Tags: healthcare, open enrollment, New Jersey, healthcare marketplace, health insurance, healthcare coverage, covid, unemployment, affordable healthcare, expert angle

You are believed: The path toward healing for a survivor.

Posted on: April 20, 2021

The statistics are staggering. Nearly 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men in the U.S. have experienced sexual assault or attempted sexual assault some time in their lives. While the effects of sexual violence are far reaching, many times taking hold of entire communities, it is the survivor who carries the trauma of their experience. Fortunately, they have options and services available to lead them on a path toward healing. Center For Family Services’ Services Empowering Rights of Victims (SERV) program is dedicated to helping victims become survivors. By providing competent, respectful, and…