St. John’s Earns Mother Cabrini Health Foundation Grant to Support Center for Psychological Services

St. John’s University has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the nonprofit Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to enhance the impact of the St. John’s Center for Psychological Services, located in the Seton Complex along Union Turnpike in Flushing, NY.

Established in 1986, the center provides mental-health services to community residents and training opportunities for graduate students in the University’s Clinical Psychology and School Psychology doctoral programs. It is housed about a mile west of the Queens, NY, campus and is open Monday through Saturday. 

Reflecting the diversity of Queens, the one-time grant, with the possibility of renewal, will enable the center to hire a New York State-licensed psychologist and a doctoral fellow who are proficient in Spanish and can provide culturally informed therapy services.

“Cultural sensitivity, diversity of health-care staff, and language are important factors in providing good mental-health care,” said Tara Rooney, Ph.D., Director, Center for Psychological Services. “The need to expand the center’s services to support the Queens community better has never been more urgent.”       

Nearly all St. John’s center patients come from nearby communities, and almost 60 percent report a household income of less than $30,000. Nearly 60 percent of the center’s patients are children. Individual and group therapy services are offered at low to moderate cost and are provided by the University’s graduate students under the supervision of licensed faculty. The center also offers free mental-health services for military members and their immediate families.

“The center fields inquiries each year from individuals seeking services who are not primarily English speaking,” Dr. Rooney added. “The need for culturally and linguistically informed treatment is great. This grant is a substantial step in the right direction, to be able to meet the mental-health needs of our Spanish-speaking community.”

“We hope to be able to continue this expansion to other languages in the future due to the generosity of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.”

The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation is the largest health care-based charitable foundation in New York State. It originated from the 2018 sale of the former nonprofit health insurer Fidelis Care and is dedicated to increasing health-care access among the state’s poor.

The Foundation is named for Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whose legacy of helping New York City’s poor and underserved was chronicled in the 2024 film Cabrini. Mother Cabrini died in 1917, and in 1946 became the first American to be recognized by the Vatican as a saint.

The nonprofit Mother Cabrini Health Foundation provides grants to improve the health-care outcomes of vulnerable New Yorkers, including those from diverse communities, and to bridge gaps in health-care services and barriers to care.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, nearly one in five adults meet the criteria for a mental-health disorder each year. There are also indications that racial and ethnic minorities face higher rates of disability from mental illness.

“We are deeply honored by the wide-ranging impact of our work and by the dedication of our grantees across New York State,” said Mother Cabrini Health Foundation Chief Executive Officer Msgr. Gregory Mustaciuolo ’83L. “We are inspired by the compassionate legacy of Mother Frances Cabrini. This year marks a significant milestone in our grant making, as we surpassed $1 billion in grants since our founding. This moment fuels our commitment as we look toward a healthier, more equitable future for all.”