Help provide psychotherapy scholarships for low-income LGBTQ Philadelphians who need access to high-quality, long-term, trauma-informed mental health care.
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Due to the chronic forces of oppression, homophobia, and transphobia, LGBTQ people are more likely than their straight and cisgendered counterparts to be unemployed, underemployed or without health insurance. Because of societal stigmas and trauma, the need for highly skilled mental health care for the LGBTQ population is all the more necessary.
Knowing that a gap in mental health care for LGBTQ people existed, the Walnut Psychotherapy Center has offered psychotherapy scholarships to low-income and uninsured LGBTQ clients since we opened in 2015. The program has been enormously successful, and we are continually astonished by the overwhelming demand for affordable psychotherapy in this community.
We offer a range of reduced rates for scholarships, averaging $35 per session, to anyone whose annual income is below $27,000. However, the real baseline cost, for our agency, is $75 for a single psychotherapy session.
Why does one session cost $75?
The first $40 to $45 goes straight to the therapist – our team is made of up 17 extraordinary licensed mental health practitioners. The next $10 covers the salaries of our small and dedicated administrative staff. $10 goes toward the monthly rent at our strategically and centrally located Center City office. The remaining $10 to $15 is split between website fees, software, taxes, office supplies, education and training, professional fees, and credit card processing charges.
Our staff of social workers accept reduced pay of $25 for seeing scholarship clients, and just $10 goes toward the agency’s other costs.
For the first 30 months of business we’ve paid for the scholarship program out of our own pockets. Unfortunately, we’ve reached a point at which that model is no longer sustainable. Rather than terminate our scholarship program and fill the space with a wealthier clientele, we’re looking for new ways to fund it.
We are asking you to share the cost of therapy with our clients. By donating $40, you make up the difference between the $35 the client pays and the $75 that the service costs for us to offer. We’re aiming to raise $50,000, which would cover one year’s worth of the program’s costs.
There are two ways to donate:
1. A one-time donation helps us to catch up on the past year’s expenses
2. A monthly donation helps us fund the program’s future
We’re looking forward to many more years offering psychotherapy to our community, and we appreciate your help in making it happen.
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