Guidance Center Honors John & Janet Kornreich
Generous donors support the organization’s Latina Girls Project
November 13, 2018
Roslyn Heights, NY, November 13, 2018 —On Wednesday, November 7, North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center hosted a celebration honoring John and Janet Kornreich, founders of the John and Janet Kornreich Charitable Foundation, who fund the monthly outings that are such a big part of the Latina Girls Project.
The Guidance Center’s Latina Girls Project is an innovative program that employs rapid response to emergency calls; individual, group and family therapy; and monthly outings and other activities, all designed to tackle the epidemic of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and suicidal ideation in young Latinas.
Guidance Center Associate Executive Director Regina Barros-Rivera, who heads up the Latina Girls Project, describes how critical the trips are to the success of the program: “In addition to individual and family therapy, monthly outings to places such as museums, theater and other cultural sites are crucial to the Latina Girls Project’s ability to transform these girls’ lives. The trips serve to boost their confidence and sense of independence. They also discover that there’s a great big world of opportunity out there for them, which allows them to feel hopeful about their futures.”
The event Wednesday night, which featured moving speeches from several of the girls who’ve participated in the program, was not only a celebration of the girls’ success but also an opportunity to honor John and Janet Kornreich.
All of the attendees expressed their profound gratitude to the Kornreiches, who were very touched by the girls’ expressions of how profoundly the outings helped changed their lives.
As one girl put it, “The therapy helped my mother and I communicate and become very close, and the monthly outings showed me a world I never would have seen. I felt that I wanted to be a part of the larger world. The trips gave me the feeling that I could be truly happy in my life.”
Barros-Rivera said that the Kornreiches were “angels,” explaining that John walked into the Guidance Center one day and said “tell me how I can help.”
Toward the end of the celebration, both John and Janet Kornreich told the girls that they were so proud of them and that they should be proud of themselves. The couple also pledged their continued support for the Latina Girls Project.
“We are deeply grateful to John and Janet for their dedication and contribution to this very important Guidance Center program,” said Malekoff. “They make these trips possible, and the trips make the girls see wonderful possibilities in their lives.”
To find out more about the Guidance Center’s work and how you can help, please visit www.northshorechildguidance.org or call (516) 626-1971.
