News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The C5 Christian Counseling Center will celebrate 21 years of service to the community with a free concert on Sunday.
The Cumberland County organization is a non-profit that offers professional counseling with charges based on income. Executive Director Donna Cielma said 21 years of providing Cumberland County with income-based counseling has strengthened the non-profit’s bond with the community.
“We are expanding by leaps and bounds,” Cielma said. “We love the relationship we have with the community, and we are here to serve the community.”
The Center was started by a group of pastors from several of the different churches in the community. Cielma said the pastors realized the needs were greater than what their counseling could meet.
“They together developed the concept of pooling funds and hiring a professional counselor they could refer to,” Cielma said. “They could support the cost of the counseling in a way that people would pay only what they could afford to pay, and the churches would take on the rest of the cost. That’s how Christian Counseling Center got started with two lawn chairs on somebody’s back patio.”
Cielma said the Center has grown a lot since then.
“They started with two licensed counselors that worked different hours to meet the needs,” Cielma said. “From there the need has just grown exponentially and the community support has grown right along with it.”
All seven counselors at C5 Christian Counseling Center are licensed counselors. They do marriage/relationship counseling, grief counseling, trauma counseling, and more. Cielma said the Center can also accept insurance.
“We are not just counseling for those who cannot afford it,” Cielma said. “We are also available to The entire community.”
C5 Christian Counseling Center will be celebrating with a performance by duo Will and Erin. Cielma said donations are welcome at the concert and any donations will help those who need professional counseling who cannot afford to pay. The event begins Sunday at 3 p.m.
