NewCanaanite.com recently received the following letter. Send letters to editor@newcanaanite.com to have them published here.

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To the Editor:

As a member of the New Canaan Behavioral Health Alliance, I’m writing to encourage people to take the “Community Health and Well-Being Survey.” Two years after nearly 1,490 (roughly 10.5 percent) of New Canaan adults set the baseline, the New Canaan Behavioral Health Alliance returns to measure what has changed. This is important and urgent, as you only have until the end of this month to fill it out. It only takes five minutes.

Some of the notable findings from the 2024 survey are:

47 percent of residents were unsure or unaware of where to seek help if they or another adult in their home were struggling with a mental health issue. For substance use, 55 percent said the same.
One in three parents did not know or were unsure where to get help if their child was struggling with a mental health issue. For substance use issues, it was two in three.
Residents aged 30 to 59 reported lower well-being than older residents, and those aged 40 to 59 reported the lowest life satisfaction of any age group.
Residents caring for both a child and a parent went without needed mental health care at more than twice the rate of respondents overall, 16 percent versus 7 percent.
16 percent of parents reported that they believe their child struggled with persistent anxiety in the past year.
While most residents felt safe at home, 9% reported some degree of threat to their safety, indicating potential domestic violence issues.

With new data and community input in hand, progress has been made by both the Alliance and other community partners. In August 2025 the New Canaan Community Foundation opened a Survey Response Grant round through its Community Behavioral Health Fund, built around the priorities the survey named, and awarded grants to six responsive initiatives that December. Examples include:

New Canaan Public Schools used a $5,000 grant to bring Let Grow co-founder Lenore Skenazy to town on November 19, 2025, matched by New Canaan CARES and the Elementary and Saxe PTCs. Let Grow began as a pilot with second graders at West School in January and is expanding to third grade at West and to second grade at South and East. The initiative focuses on fostering healthy independence among children.
New Canaan CARES used $2,775 to run two free Positive Discipline workshop series at the New Canaan Library, one for parents of elementary school children and one for parents of middle school children, led by a New Canaan resident and certified trainer.
Community Mindfulness Project used $2,500 to launch Parent Circles of Support, six sessions between February 26 and May 5, 2026 at the New Canaan Nature Center and the New Canaan Library.
On July 31, 2026, the New Canaan Abuse Prevention Partnership and the New Canaan Community Foundation, working with New Canaan Human Services and the Domestic Violence Crisis Center, announced the DV Survivor Support Fund. Housed at the Foundation, the fund covers the practical things that can prevent victims of domestic violence from leaving dangerous environments, including safe housing, basic needs, emergency financial assistance, childcare and supportive services. It is administered through trusted referral sources, and every request is handled confidentially.

The NCBHA asked residents to tell us what they were experiencing, and then we followed the data with real dollars and real programming, according to Lauren Patterson, president and CEO of NCCF. Parents got support, older residents got a closer look, and organizations that had been working alongside each other for years got a shared set of facts to work from, she said. Now we need to know whether any of it is working, and if needs are shifting. That answer only exists if residents take five minutes again to participate.

Please take the 5-10 minutes it will take to fill out the survey. If you are a New Canaan resident aged 18 or older, you are eligible to respond. You have until October 31st to take the survey online at NewCanaanBHA.org. Paper copies are available throughout October at the New Canaan Library, New Canaan YMCA, Lapham Center and Walter Stewart’s or at many faith communities. Results will be posted at NewCanaanBHA.org and released at public events where residents can discuss next steps.

We are a community that cares about Behavioral Health and are doing something about it. Please participate and help make a difference.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Dr. Scott Herr

The First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan