Community Fund Of Darien Adds Youth Asset Team Adviser

From the Community Fund of Darien:

October 4 2019

Community Fund of Darien adds Andrew Tepper as Youth Asset Team Advisor

October 5, 2019 -- Licensed Clinical Social Worker Andrew Tepper has joined The Community Fund of Darien as an advisor to the Youth Asset Team. Tepper brings 15 years of individual and group psychotherapy in both the inpatient and outpatient setting experience, and specializes in working with pre-adolescents, adolescents, adults and families.

The Youth Asset Team is a student-run branch of The Community Fund of Darien (TCF). Its mission is to address substance abuse and mental health by encouraging healthy choices and through community events targeting teens and adults in Darien. The Youth Asset team will meet bi-weekly with Tepper and Emily Larkin, TCF’s Thriving Youth Program Director, to plan prevention-related events and speakers, plan alcohol-alternative events for their peers, provide the teen perspective at Thriving Youth Task Force meetings, and mentor middle school Youth Give Back students. This year’s Youth Asset Team boasts 42 student members, the largest group to date.

This past school year, the Youth Asset Team (YAT) helped design the new “Our Darien” campaign focusing on the power of older siblings serving as role-models for younger siblings regarding alcohol and e-cigarette use. The Youth Asset Team also co-sponsored a screening of the documentary Haze, the tragic story of Greenwich native Gordie Bailey’s death his freshman year of college year due to binge drinking. "We are so excited to welcome Andrew to the Youth Asset Team this year," noted Janet King, Executive Director of TCF. "He really connects with students thanks to his humor, compassion and contagious enthusiasm. Andrew will draw from his extensive work with teens to facilitate workshops about stress, self-care, helping friends struggling with substance abuse or mental health and other student-chosen topics."

Tepper holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Bates College and received his Masters of Social Work degree from Columbia University School of Social Work. He has received extensive training in Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy from the Hudson Valley Psychodrama Institute. In addition, he draws from years of training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS), and Mindfulness techniques to mitigate symptoms of depression and anxiety.

For 68 years, The Community Fund of Darien’s intelligent philanthropy has addressed the needs of the most vulnerable in our community by investing in critical and effective programs in Darien, Stamford and Norwalk. Funding goals focus on basic needs (food, housing, and emergency financial assistance), youth success, and self-sufficiency. In addition to grants, The Community Fund brings together local community initiatives such as Thriving Youth Task Force, which promotes positive youth development, and the Human Service Planning Council, which focuses on addressing the social service needs of Darien residents. The Community Fund of Darien also created the 06820/Our Darien campaign which addresses teen binge drinking, and also organizes high school and middle school groups to address substance abuse and mental health. For more information, please contact The Community Fund of Darien office at 203-655-8775 or visit the website at: www.communityfunddarien.org

This press release was produced by the Community Fund of Darien. The views expressed here are the author’s own.