Center Planned As Home for Mental Health Help An effort is underway to put counseling and other post-9/11 mental health services offered Downtown under a single roof. Last month, coordinators of the project, tentatively called the 9/11 Community Resource Center, were looking for a ground-floor space to accommodate a wide range of new and existing programs, and were waiting to hear about federal funding. Jack Saul, head of New York University’s International Trauma Studies Center and executive director of the planned facility, said that he envisioned a place for a variety of activities, from yoga and art to exhibitions, performances, and just getting together, in addition to counseling. Carol Prendergast, a former development manager for nonprofit groups who has worked with traumatized communities, was hired in August as managing director. Preliminary funding was received from Project Liberty, a state program funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that coordinates mental health services for people affected by the attack. “Many people are still struggling with the trauma of Sept. 11,” Prendergast said. “There’s a second wave of anxiety and nervousness. We don’t want people to say, ‘There’s something wrong with me,’ but we want to tell them, ‘These are stressful times and we have ways to help you reduce that stress.’” The new center, she added, would be “not so much for people who ‘need help,’ but a very community-oriented place where people can get back to feeling in control of their lives.” The idea for the center grew out of an effort by Saul, a P.S. 234 parent, and others to bring together parents from P.S. 234, P.S. 150 and P.S./I.S. 89 who sought support in dealing with their children’s—and their own—emotions after the attack. Various private and government groups now offer mental health programs to Downtown residents, workers and students. The Lower Manhattan Healing Project, for example, runs support groups and art therapy projects in Battery Park City and at the Independence Plaza and Southbridge Towers residential complexes. “The best way to respond to disaster is to build a network of support among parents and community members,” said Saul. “We want to tap into the most important resource for healing and rebuilding—the people in the community themselves.”