Lucy Daniels Center

I have watched the Lucy Daniels Center grow from the day of the groundbreaking for its original building and have been consistently impressed by its vision, scope, and service to the community. There is virtually no school program in our region that offers more for children and their parents than Lucy Daniels. They work with children who might never succeed in other school settings to achieve and prosper academically, socially, and personally. They help parents better understand and assist their child in coping with significant life challenges and they have emerged as the major provider of child mental health services in Wake County. We are extremely fortunate in having Lucy Daniels Center in our community. They are, in fact, foundational to our future and a shining example to child programs everywhere.

I was introduced to Lucy Daniels about a year ago through a former colleague. At the time, I was serving as the Family Network co-chair at my previous employer and we wanted to give back to our community, specifically geared towards children and their families. We meet with the director from Lucy Daniels and we were so amazed (and impressed) on how the staff and volunteers devoted their hearts and time to help children live emotionally healthy lives. Our network members volunteered to deliver quarterly Lucy Book Club bookmarks to removing recycled materials for the center. We were so excited to be part of a great cause, anytime they needed us, we were there! I knew for sure I wanted to continue to help Lucy Daniels with their mission and joined the Board of Directors this year. The dedication and support provided at Lucy Daniels will give families and their children a chance forhope and a future!!

I became involved with the Lucy Daniels Center in the Fall of 2011. I very rapidly noticed the passion and dedication each of the faculty, staff, and board members have to the mission of this organization. The need for development programs for socially and behaviorally challenged children has become especially important as families in our region struggle through the recession, through changing family life, and through changes in this dynamic world. Last year, The Lucy Daniels Center served over 600 families struggling with these difficulties. The faculty and staff are highly trained and educated to take special care of the children, give them the help and confidence they deserve, and make a very profound difference in the lives of the children and their families. The Lucy Daniels Center is a model institution for the emotional development of young children in North Carolina.

My daughter attended the LDC from ages three to five. She just finished her first semester of college. She met many other children there that she still maintians relationships with today. I credit the LDC for my daughter's incredible capacity to make and keep friends. She has tremendous interpersonal skills which I believe she developed while at the Center. She had the opportunity to be exposed to many different children and because of that she has a deep caring capacity. Many times her teachers would remark that she would always be the first one to invite the new kid to play or to make sure eveyone one was included. By the time she graduated high school she knew at least one friend from every high school in Wake County. I am convinced that because of her exposure to the incredible teachers, staff and other wonderful kids at the LDC she developed this skill. I am now a LDC Board member some sixteen years later.

My daughter started at the LDC this year and it has been a positive experience for her as well as myself. I tried another preschool last year and my daughter did not take too well to the environment. The LDC was the perfect fit for her this year! She is very sensitive emotionally and the teachers and staff helped her work through her emotions. The phase in program was a wonderful way to help my daughter ease in to going to preschool without mom. No tears for either of us! I highly recommend the Lucy Daniels Center not only for the phase in program but also teaching our little ones academics as well as emotional security!

My son had severe separation anxiety and also general anxiety. The school helped him work through his feelings so that he would no longer disrupt a whole classroom when he needed help, and gave him strength to cope in many circumstances. Today he is in first grade at a public school, and it is difficult to believe he is the same child whose behavior was so out of control two years ago.

LDC also gave us as parents invaluable assistance and support on how to cope and to parent a child that is not developing typically. They helped give us the strength to recognize that not all other parents have the same experience we have, nor can they understand it.

As a former teacher at Lucy Daniels there was no other place I thought of for preschool for my first child. Great ratios combined with excellent caring and educated teachers make for the best introduction to school for a preschooler. They have taken the time to make him (and all the preschoolers) feel so comfortable away from mom/dad for the first time in a school setting. Now pregnant with our second child we see many years of Lucy Daniels in our future!

This will be our family's 5th year at the school, and we've been thrilled. It's a NAEYC Accredited, 5 star licensed nationally awarded progrm. You may have heard of them in Carolina Parent's column or quoted in national parenting magazines. This year they're offering classes for 2-5 year olds developing within the typical range or who have mild delays that would allow them to participate in an inclusive classroom setting. They also offer an Early Intervention Program for kids needing support in social/ emotional areas.
As a parent, I was struck by several things that make this program different from others. First, it's an 11 month, half-day preschool. For us, this has provided a consistency that made going back to school after break easier. It's a secular program with a good mix of students from a variety of backgrounds. They also have smaller than required classes. The most important thing for us was the phase-in program, which allows you to slowly transition your child in at the beginning of the year by staying increasingly shorter periods until the child is comfortable staying on their own. For kids like mine who are incredibly attached and have a difficult time with separation, this is a wonderful thing in making them feel safe and secure. They also don't require that a child be potty-trained by a certain deadline, but work with the parents on the child's schedule. They've been great in helping our child deal with the changes that come with a new sibling. You can tell they really care about the kids. They call to let you know that the child is missed when they are out sick, and even offered to let my child talk to his friends on speaker phone when he'd been out a week sick. I can't say enough great things about them, and I strongly encourage those of you looking for a preschool to consider them.

My daughter attended the Center's Child Enrichment Program (model pre-school) classes from 2006-2009. As a preschooler, she was hesitant and unsure of herself and yet deeply sensitive, both to her own feelings and those of others. Her teachers nurtured her growing understanding of others’ emotional cues, helping her make sense of interactions with her classmates and feel more confident in her responses to conflict, so that she emerged, as a 5-year old, prepared to face the social dynamics of a kindergarten classroom—and the world beyond. I was amazed by her growth. The teachers at the Center are of the highest caliber, well-trained and uniquely attuned to the emotional lives of the children in their classroom, not just their outward behaviors. The Lucy Daniels Center is an exceptional place, and I recommend it without reservation.

I am a big fan of the Lucy Daniels Center for two reasons. The first is that they were gracious host to my Finance team of 18 employees last year as we completed our GlaxoSmithKline Orange Day assignment ( all GSK employees select a day of volunteer work and our company is generous enough to pay for the day and the activities). It was a wonderful experience to work on the LDC playground as the children waved and smiled from their classrooms and were entertained by the muddy and wet strangers who took great joy in putting mulch down on their area for play ( it was pouring rain while we worked and it made it fairly comical). Our team had a great time with team building at LDC.

This was the first place that understood my son and made him feel comfortable. They helped him tremendously.

The Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood is at the forefront of conducting research and providing treatment to help children with severe mental health challenges. The Center, through its unique approach to therapy and treatment, provides support and hope to families when they feel they have no place to turn. Each and every member of the staff is a dedicated, caring and compassionate professional who gives selflessly, which makes families feel welcome.

I work with other Board Members to recruit wonderful people with a passion for children and their mental well being. Together we all raise public awareness of the importance of mental health services and seek to raise money to assist families that may not otherwise afford adequate mental health care. Working with the folks at The Lucy Daniels Center has really opened my eyes to a group of caring individuals that devote their own personal time to ensure the well being of children and families that they don't even know on a personal level. We all have the right to mental health services regardless of socio-economic status and it is our goal to strive to make sure that happens. The Lucy Daniels Center exudes a spirit of passion, philanthropy, kindness and generosity. I am grateful to be a part of such a wonderful organization.

As a member of the Lucy Daniels Advisory Board it has been an honor to give of my time and resources to such a worthy organization. The LDC has surrounded itself with a staff of outstanding professionals in the area of mental health and a Board of Directors that is dedicated to the financial viability of the center. Having a Granddaughter with Autism gives me a better understanding of the challenges the staff and parents encounter on a daily basis with these troubled children. Many of the parents don't have the financial means to pay for services so the burden of the financial deficits fall squarely on the shoulders of management and the Board. This team has done an outstanding job of developing creative ideas to generate streams of revenue for the Center.

The LDC is an outstanding resource for children with behavioral and emotional challenges. As a Pediatrician in the Triangle area, I have referred patients who have benefited greatly from the services and expertise of the staff. The Center fills a great need as many mental health providers in the area do not have the skills and experience to effectively assist preschool age children. I especially appreciate the communication between the LDC and others who are involved with the child's care, and the individualized approach they bring to evaluation and treatment. LDC improves the quality of life for many wonderful children and their families!

The Lucy Daniels Center helps the children who really have no voice elsewhere in the community. Mental and emotional disorders do not garner as much focus or funding as other child health issues, but they affect a large number of families. The LDC is working in a very unique and effective way to help one child/family at a time!

This is a great organization with an impeccable reputation in the community for promoting the emotional well-being of children. The Center has a wide array of services that it provides, including family guidance and schooling.

Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood is a preeminent in its approach in helping children with social and emotional developmental challenges as well as their families. It uses unique and all encompassing programs through mental health assessments, family counseling, therapy in both one-on-one and classroom settings and in home counseling services to make sure that the whole child is treated.

It is a well established organization that is in need of more people knowing what Lucy Daniels is doing in helping the children and the families with emotional issues.

1 in 5 children will face an emotional challenge in their lifetime. Lucy Daniels Center (LDC) is one of the only places in the country that takes a truly holistic approach (i.e. classroom + home + other outside factors) to child mental health. LDC assesses children comprehensively and works with them and their families to ensure they are emotionally fulfilled and prepared for life. This thorough approach is evident in everything from their "orientations process" to their classrooms, which are fun worlds of exploration, with different "play areas" that nurture an individual's learning preferences. I was introduced to LDC through Cisco Systems's Civic Council, of which I am a member.

Lucy Daniels is a unique school and unique organization dedicated to helping children with emotional and social problems that are not often identified or understood at other institutes. They are dedicated to helping each individual child and family in the best way appropriate to that child.

This Center is the preeminent program in providing care for the young emotionally ill child in our community. It is the leader in advancing a deeply thoughtful approach to difficult children, many of which have been expelled from preschool and kindergarten, and caring for the needs of their parents. It relies heavily on the community for operating funds and no child is turned away because of an inability to pay for the highly sophisticated services they provide. I have worked with families and children who have been treated at the center and can state without reservation that they provide excellent care.

The Lucy Daniels Center provides excellent services to children with emotional and psychological problems. The quality, depth and range of services --- preschool, outpatient clinic, in-home visits, and community education -- is outstanding. The Center's work is especially crucial now, as public mental health programs face drastic cutbacks in funding.

I am involved with the Lucy Daniels Center because they fill the vital role in our community of helping children that are emotionally at risk. The staff is highly qualified and has a great track record with getting their kids back on track and living healthy functional lives.

Although I have been on the Board of the LDC for several years, the reason why I become involved is from personal experience. The Center made a huge positive difference in my child's life, and how that affected our family. Having worked closely with the Center, I've seen first hand how important the work that they do is for the community. By helping these children, the impact is profound, as it also helps that child's family and the child's classroom.

As a developmental and behavioral pediatrician I was very familiar with the LDC when it first started years ago with the high quality - and unique to the Triangle - Early Intervention preschool program. Over the subsequent years as a member of the Board, I have seen the LDC respond to the community's needs by expanding it's services through such programs as the Family Guidance Service and Secure Path. All the time maintaining high quality counseling for families whose children have behavioral and social emotional concerns. The focus on the young child - preschoolers - is particularly special as there are few resources in the area for real, meaningful help for these families. The Triangle community is fortunate to have the Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood supporting the social and emotional development of our young children.

Lucy Daniels Center is my primary referral center for children and families struggling with mental health issues involving anxiety, depression, and complex and as yet undiagnosed conditions. As a pediatrician in private practice caring for children in the raleigh-chapel hill-durham area of north carolina I have had the privilege of referral young children (3-5 yrs of age) whose lives are filled with such pain and suffering that they are not able to function and enjoy the daily joys and survive the typical obstacles of children. For some of these youngsters the therapeutic preschool and weekly, ongoing therapeutic intervention provided parents has offered an intense intervention that is life changing. For others, preschoolers and children into their early teens, the guidance clinic offers necessary therapeutic support that promotes exploration, understanding and fuel for change required to experience life with greater equilibrium. Regardless of the underlying etiology the Lucy Daniels Center excels in helping children and parents explore, understand, and navigate the unpredictable, discover more stability and ultimately venture out with a sense of safety required to live each day with the balance and serenity required to benefit from and contribute to their world.

One of the reasons I got involved with Lucy Daniels is because I had two children who attended school in their Early Intervention Program and Early Childhood Program. The experience I had with the Center has been and still is amazing. We still seek therapy there for our child who was in the EIP. It was a place for us to bring our child who had social and emotional problems and not feel judged or discouraged. After an almost 2 year search for help, I felt like they really "got it." The support that is provided from the teachers, therapist and staff is insurmountable. They are focused on one goal and that is to better the mental health of kids who need it. Our life has changed because of the 18 months we were there. I chose to help with the Lucy's Book Club because they recognize the importance of really listening and understanding kids and their emotional struggles for both "normal" developing kids and ones who are still trying to find how they fit into the world. I love the fact that they are sending positive message about the importance of children's mental health at an early age.

Lucy Daniels Center has provided children in the Triangle area with mental health services for many years. They do this through a variety of venues which allows the needs of children with mental health issues a greater chance of success by meeting their unique needs. For many years families have turned to LDC for help and as a result their children are able to flourish in a school setting and family life is much improved. The staff is professional highly experienced. They continue to strive to improve programs and provide quality care without turning any child away for financial reasons.

The Lucy Daniels Center is truly a remarkable and unique organization with a national reputation. I searched for an organization to support that consistently makes a difference in the Triangle, especially among young people. I have learned that the social and emotional issues of pre-school and elmementary aged children is often overlooked or misdiagnosed. The wonderfully talented and dedicated staff at the LDC are especially skilled at addressing these issues. The staff is passionate about their work and have a twenty year track record of outstanding results.