Cynthia Rudick

Cynthia Rudick is a licensed therapist and Give an Hour provider who works with veterans from all military branches and the National Guard in and around Canton, Ohio. Give an Hour is a nonprofit that provides free mental health services to those affected by the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cynthia’s experiences working with both Vietnam and Iraq war veterans have enriched her compassion for military clients. Because Cynthia’s parents were originally from Poland and she lost half her family in the Holocaust, she understands the existence of horror and is looking to help.
The first Give an Hour client Cynthia counseled was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a mental health issue and was dismissed from basic training. The woman volunteered in hopes of eventually getting money to go to college and was desperate for some structure in her life. Cynthia, who has run Welfare to Work programs and mental health centers, referred her to all the free services in the Canton community and at the Cleveland Hospital.
Cynthia’s second Give an Hour client was a woman whose son and only child, had recently returned from his second deployment in Iraq and would not talk to her. The son was all the woman lived for. She worked hard to support the two of them when he was growing up.
“She told me, ‘I’m a mental case because he is so withdrawn,’” Cynthia says. “I told her that she could come anytime to talk with me.”
Because of her compassion and service to our military and veterans, Cynthia is a Daily Point of Light.