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It’s official! Horizons Counseling Center is open in its new home. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Thursday, September 20th. The Center’s new home located at 161 East Main Street, Smithtown, has been in the works for over six years.
The counseling center which was moved from its very cramped quarters to its new location, now has ample space ensuring privacy for its patrons. Is Director Elaine Econonmopoulis happpy? She is ecstatic. “Because of the tight quarters at the former location, programs were spread out in many different town buildings, creating scheduling challenges. The new building is handicapped accessible, has a working elevator and room for our meetings and programs.”
With a smile from ear to ear, Elaine expressed her gratitude for the support she received throughout the planning and moving process “The people here today all played a role in this project and none more than Supervisor Vecchio.”
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Supervisor Vecchio gave a brief history of the project, highlighting some of the challenges the town faced in the selection and development of the location. He also emphasized the importance of the facility. He spoke of an article published by Newsday, which identified in detail drug abuse in Smithtown and other towns. The article brought to the forefront of everyone’s conciousness the complexity of the problem and the horrible impact it was having on Smithtown’s residents.
Supervisor Vecchio, known for his frugal ways, found a way to pay for the project without it impacting on the tax-payers. The funding comes through grants from New York State and according to those involved, it came in on budget. When pressed for a comment, the Supervisor admitted to being proud of this facility and the work being done at Horizons. “There’s not too many Towns that have a facility like this. The Newsday article, in an almost favorable dipiction of the efforts of our community to address a serious serious problem helped to make this happen. It couldn’t have happened years ago. And yes, I am proud.”
Horizons is a not-for-profit agency funded through NYS to provide adolescent and adult treatment, prevention and education services for drug and alcohol related problems. Fees are based on a sliding scale and insurance is accepted.
In addition to Counseling Horizons offers programs in Parenting, Life Skills, Senior Resiliency Group and much more. To learn more click on Horizons.