Urgent centers

thrive, and that they are going to know that when they are experiencing crisis, and fear and anxiety, that we’re here to prop them up,” Dorantes said.

Rep. Tammy Exum, D-West Hartford, noted that the centers need more than the one-time COVID relief funding to be effective.

The centers have up to 72 slots, according to a press release.

“The need is enormous,” said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin. “And the gap to this point has been gaping.”

“It’s hard to be on a list when your child is in crisis right in front of you. For me, this building today represents prevention,” Exum said. “It represents that if my child is having an issue, and I see that child is escalating, and I don’t know what to do, I can bring my child here as a parent.”

At the peak of the pandemic, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center was seeing up to 50 kids per day.

Pre-pandemic, it was closer to 20 to 25 daily, but many of those would be best treated in the crisis centers, said James Shmerling, president and chief executive officer at the medical center.

Tenesha Oates, a Hartfordarea resident, had to take her teenage son to the emergency room not long ago. He went from school, and Oates says she thinks he just needed de-escalation techniques that weren’t possible at the school.

After she spoke at the lectern, her son snaked an arm around his mother’s shoulders for a quick hug while they waited for the ceremony to conclude so they could take a tour. Rather than the sparse, clinical feel of a hospital, the urgent crisis center’s treatment rooms have brightly colored, soft furniture.

They’re equipped with fidget toys and each room has its own mural sunflowers in one, a jungle scene in another.

“This would have been much better,” Oates said. If you or your child are experiencing a mental health emergency, help is available by calling 988.

This story originally appeared on the website of The Connecticut Mirror, ctmirror.org.

Obituaries

KENSINGTON - Emilie (Linderme) Yukna, 95, of Kensington, wife of the late Alfred Yukna, passed away Friday, August 4, 2023, at her home. Born in Portland, CT, she was a former New Britain resident, moving to Kensington in 1957. Emilie was a graduate of Portland High School, class of 1947, and received her bachelor and master’s degree in Education from the University of CT. She taught Home Economics at Martin Kellogg in Newington and then Berlin High School for 25 years, where she served as Berlin Education Association President, retiring in 1983. She was active in many local civic and non-profit organizations and served as Past State and Chapter President of Alpha Delta Kappa; Past President of the Women’s Club of New Britain; was Treasurer of the Henry Barnard Memorial Fund of the Connecticut Education Association and was a member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Emilie was an avid fan of UCONN Women’s basketball, a season ticket holder and a 21 year final four attendee.

Surviving is her son, William Yukna and his wife Pamela of Foxborough, MA; two daughters, Andrea Yukna of Kensington and Atty. Paula Yukna and her husband Fred D’Aprile of New Britain; three grandchildren, Kevin Yukna, Michael Yukna and his wife Sandy and Jennifer Yukna and her partner Kyle Curtis; four great-grandchildren, Brielle, Halleigh, Ivy and Hunter; two nieces and a nephew.

Funeral services and burial will be private. There are no calling hours. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Henry Barnard Memorial Fund, 76 Chatham Rd., Kensington, CT 06037 or to the UCONN Foundation for the Benefit of UCONN Women’s Basketball, 2390 Alumni Drive, Storrs, CT 06269. Carlson Funeral Home, New Britain, is assisting the family with arrangements. Please share a memory or note of sympathy at www. carlsonfuneralhome.com

Dave Zajac, Record-Journal