Beth Coons is a New York State Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has passionately advocated throughout her life for the health and well-being of children, including trauma survivors and those with mental health challenges. Having faced similar obstacles in her own childhood, Beth identifies with youth whose lives are impacted by adversity. Even as a young teen she knew she wanted to dedicate her life to helping children overcome their circumstances and learn how to become resilient and thrive. During the civil rights movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Beth tutored young children newly bused into her Newark, New Jersey suburb. There she witnessed firsthand the effects of poverty and discrimination. This experience instilled in her a profound desire to effect change, and she began her career with a BA in Early Childhood Education from Rowan University.

Beth taught preschool and kindergarten for several years then became the Director for a center run by the Division of Youth and Family Services, where many children received protective services due to abuse. She documented play therapy sessions and observed the healing power of creative art therapies. Realizing a need in the community for quality child care, Beth pursued and was awarded funding from the New Jersey Coalition to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy to found an infant-toddler early childhood education center within the Bergen Avenue Daycare Center in Jersey City. This center was created specifically for teenage mothers so they could continue their high school education and earn their diplomas. Almost forty years later, the center is still providing this essential service to teen mothers and their children.

In 1996 Beth earned a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University and since then has worked as a psychotherapist in various settings with children, teens, adult survivors of abuse, and individuals diagnosed as intellectually and developmentally challenged.

For nearly a decade, she was the Clinical Supervisor of the Crime Victims Assistance Program in New York State, overseeing a team of psychotherapists. She created therapeutic programs for sexual assault and domestic violence survivors and a children’s program for those who were abused and/or had witnessed domestic violence. Beth was the Clinical Manager at a New York State PROS (Personalized Recovery Oriented Services) program, providing trauma-informed therapy for adolescents and adults with severe mental illness. From there, she became the Clinical Supervisor at Abilities First, working directly with individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities as well as providing trauma-informed training for staff.

As a culmination of her lifelong drive to provide increased access to meaningful and effective services for children and teens who have experienced high levels of adversity, Beth founded the Resilient Child Fund (RCF) based on the evidence that early intervention strategies, along with proven methods to foster resiliency, dramatically improve a child’s chance for success. A cornerstone of the RCF is to provide grants to fund free or low-cost creative art therapies for children whose families might not otherwise afford them. In addition, the RCF has established itself as a premier community resource, training teachers and mental health workers to alleviate the effects of early childhood adversity through creative art therapy.

Beth’s hope is for all children to grow and thrive, leading healthy, joyous, productive lives and thereby healing the future.