First Baptist Cares provides mental health services in Chattanooga

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – First Baptist Church on East 8th Street has a non-profit organization for mental health care in Chattanooga. 

“First Baptist cares called this press conference Wednesday for two reasons. One, to report on the preliminary data for our mental health outreach initiative,” said Rev. Dr. William Ladd III, pastor of First Baptist Church. “Number two, to issue a call to action for foundations and local governments to partner with nonprofits to close equity gaps in mental health services in our city.” 

First Baptist Cares has the goal of making mental health services accessible to all people, especially those in underserved communities. 

As part of their mental health initiative, they offer services at no cost. 

First Baptist Cares gives people 10 counseling sessions with a licensed therapist. 

“97% of both incarcerated individuals report has childhood traumas from adverse childhood experiences,” said Clinical Consultant Marissa Player-Montgomery. “Our process includes individuals completing the expanded Asus forms, so that we can get a good picture of what the client needs.”

Since its inception, more than 150 people have received mental health care from this program.

First Baptist Cares hopes to continue providing people the help they need through 2024. 

“10 sessions is just the beginning of their treatment process. And as we seek to be clinically sound, we do not want to start therapy, get clients comfortable with the therapeutic process and then send them on their way,” said Dr. Sara Jean-Philippe, Data analyst and Chief Research Consultant. “We truly want to see the treatment process through and provide wraparound services.”