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Baystate Health awards $1M to five community initiatives

by | Apr 21, 2022 | In The News

Published: Apr. 14, 2022, 9:07 a.m.
By Ray Kelly

SPRINGFIELD — Baystate Health has awarded $1 million in Better Together Grants to five community initiatives with partner organizations as part of its Community Benefits Program.

“Baystate Health is proud to invest our Determination of Need Community Health Initiative funding in the communities served by our four hospitals. It is an honor to partner with these very deserving local non-profit organizations over the next three years,” said Annamarie Golden, director of community relations for Baystate Health

The recipients are:

[…]
  • Western Massachusetts Training Consortium and The Bridge Program (The Recover Project, The Salasin Project and The Wildflower Alliance), Integrated Networks for Health in an Ideal World: $150,000, two years.

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Join Support Network’s Children’s Mental Health Week Event

by | Apr 19, 2022 | In The News

Children’s Mental Health Week 2022: Understanding Teen Depression

Join the Support Network as we welcome speakers from Families for Depression Awareness for a conversation about the signs, symptoms and interventions for teen depression. Hear a young person’s perspective about their experience and gain insight about how parents and caregivers can best support their youth.

When: May 5, 2022 from 6:30-8:00
Where: Via Zoom, Zoom ID 264-212-8031

The first 5 attendees to arrive on Zoom will receive a $25.00 Amazon gift card!

RSVP to [email protected] or call or text: 413-530-4689

Salasin Project Receives $127,000 grant from MA COVID 19 Survivor Trust Fund

by | Apr 12, 2022 | In The News

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Becky Lockwood, Salasin Project Director
(413) 887-2000

Salasin Project Receives $127,000 grant from MA COVID 19 Survivor Trust Fund

GREENFIELD, MA March 29, 2022 – The Salasin Project, a program of the Western Massachusetts Training Consortium, recently received a $127,000 grant from the MA COVID-19 Survivor Trust Fund to expand its work with Franklin and Hampshire County residents who have experienced domestic violence.  The grant will focus on increasing access to housing, economic empowerment, outreach, and implementing support groups in Spanish.

“The lack of affordable housing can be a significant barrier to someone leaving an abusive relationship,” says Becky Lockwood, Salasin Project Director. “With this funding, we’ll be able to hire a full time Housing Advocate who can work with participants to find safe housing and move.” Salasin Project will collaborate with Alianza DV Services, a domestic violence program in Holyoke, to support Hampden County participants interested in moving to Hampshire or Franklin County. “Searching for housing can be overwhelming,” says Carmen Nieves, Executive Director of Alianza, “especially when someone has experienced violence.” The programs will join forces to help survivors relocate.

The Community Action Pioneer Valley Family Center in Greenfield is also partnering with the Salasin Project, where together they will offer Healing from Trauma support groups in Spanish. Healing from Trauma groups will be co-facilitated by bilingual staff from both programs. According to Eric Cora, Program Manager of the Family Center, “We have an active community of Latino families here at the Center and by joining with Salasin we can expand our offerings.”

The grant will pay for training of the support group facilitators, and the Salasin Project hopes that current or former participants will be interested in co-leading the new programs. “Having someone who has experienced violence and who understands how difficult it can be to get back on your feet” is critical to breaking down isolation and creating trust with people who have experienced domestic violence, according to Lockwood.  “That empathy and respect is the most important qualification.”

The Salasin Project is one of 34 community based domestic violence programs funded statewide by the MA Department of Public Health. Call 413.774.4307 for more information or visit: www.salasinproject.org. Alianza offers 24-hour crisis intervention, community-based services and a confidential  shelter program for individuals and families fleeing domestic violence. For more information call the 24-hour hotline: 1.877.536.1628 or visit: https://www.alianzadv.org.  The Community Action Pioneer Valley Family Center uses a strength based and family centered approach to supporting families. For more information call 413.475.1555 or visit: https://www.communityaction.us/family-center.

The Consortium, founded in 1975, is a learning organization committed to creating conditions in which people who have faced marginalization, oppression, or otherwise felt invisible are better able to pursue their dreams and strengthen communities through voice, choice, and inclusion. This is supported by an organizational commitment to address systems of oppression and work toward undoing the harms they have caused. To learn more, visit their website at http://wmtcinfo.org/.

Trusting People as Experts of Themselves: Sera Davidow on the Wildflower Peer Support Line

Trusting People as Experts of Themselves: Sera Davidow on the Wildflower Peer Support Line

by | Apr 4, 2022 | In The News

An interview with Sera Davidow, Executive Director of Wildflower Alliance on their Peer Support Line and the founding principles of not tracing calls or contacting police without consent.


By –

Sera Davidow is a filmmaker, activist, advocate, author, and mother of two very busy kids. As a survivor of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse as a child and relationship violence as an adult, Sera has faced many challenges throughout her own healing process, including many ups and downs with suicidal thoughts, and self-injury. At present, she spends much of her time working as Director of the Wildflower Alliance (formerly known as the Western Mass Recovery Learning Community), which includes Afiya Peer Respite, recently recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of about two dozen exemplary, rights-based programs operating across the world. She also serves on several boards including the Massachusetts Disability Law Center (DLC) Board of Directors, the DLC’s Council Against Institutional and Psychiatric Abuse (CAIPA), as an advisory board member for the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health (NCDVTM), and as a founding Board member of Hearing Voices USA. You can learn more about Sera and her work in an April, 2018 article in Sun Magazine

This interview is the second in a series of conversations being conducted over the next few months around the issue of hotline tracing and intervention. The first interview was with Vanessa Green, founder of Call the Blackline. It is part of Mad in America’s Suicide Hotline Transparency Project, which was born out of the belief that creating transparency and public access around suicide hotline intervention and call-tracing policies should be a priority. This project includes a directory of lines that do not trace or intervene without consent, a public poll, survivor interviews, and an open call for art. Please visit the project page to find out how you can participate.

The transcript below has been edited for length and clarity. Listen to the audio of the interview here.

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Please join West Region Self Advocacy during their 18th Annual Conference!

by | Mar 22, 2022 | In The News

When: June 25, 2022

Where: Sheraton Hotel, Springfield MA

Featuring keynote speaker, author and self-advocate Dr. Temple Grandin!

About Dr. Temple Grandin, from West Region Self Advocacy’s Speaker Announcement:

Dr. Grandin is a prominent author and speaker on both autism and animal behavior.  Today she is a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University.  She also has a successful career consulting on both livestock handling equipment design and animal welfare.  She has been featured on NPR (National Public Radio) and a BBC Special – “The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow”. She has also appeared on National TV shows such as Larry King Live, 20/20, Sixty Minutes, Fox and Friends, and she has a 2010 TED talk.  Articles about Dr. Grandin have appeared in Time Magazine, New York Times, Discover Magazine, Forbes and USA Today. HBO made an Emmy Award winning movie about her life and she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016.

When she was young, she was considered weird and teased and bullied in high school.  The only place she had friends was activities where there was a shared interest such as horses, electronics, or model rockets.  Mr. Carlock, her science teacher, was an important mentor who encouraged her interest in science.  When she had a new goal of becoming a scientist, she had a reason for studying.  Today half the cattle in the United States are handled in facilities she has designed.

This year’s conference features several excellent workshops, ranging from

  • Westfield Self Advocacy Presents Why Friendship Matters
  • Self Advocacy Impact Lab Presents Connecting Through Activism
  • Creating Inclusive Community: A Discussion of Race & Identity
  • Let’s Talk about Sex
  • Team-building Puzzle Game
  • Open Door Club Presents Building Friendships & Networking

Full conference schedule:

  • 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM: Registration – Visit our Resource Tables
  • 10:00 AM to 10:15 AM: Introduction, Main Ballroom
  • 10:15 AM to 10:30 AM: Remarks from special guests
  • 10:30 AM to 11:00 AM: Keynote Presentation
  • 11:00 AM to 11:15 AM: Break
  • 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM: Morning Workshops
  • 12:15 PM to 12:30 PM: Break
  • 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM: Lunch
  • 1:30 PM to 1:45 PM: Awards Ceremony, M.A.S.S. Announcements
  • 1:45 PM to 2:00 PM: Break
  • 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM: Afternoon Workshops
  • 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM: Raffle Drawings

Learn more about the 2022 West Region Self Advocacy Conference at MassWRSA.org, where you can also sign up for raffle tickets or become a sponsor!

Interested? Have any questions? Contact Dana Lund, Self Advocacy Regional Coordinator at [email protected], or Amber Pettell, Self Advocacy Peer Coordinator, at [email protected] or (413) 535-6999.

Don’t forget to like West Region Self Advocacy on Facebook to keep up-to-date with the latest postings about this conference and more!

 

 

Greenfield Notebook: Feb. 11, 2022

by | Feb 24, 2022 | In The News

Healing from Trauma support group offered

GREENFIELD — The Salasin Project is providing a confidential support and discussion group that explores the impact of interpersonal violence and trauma on individuals. Participants will also examine how to identify ways to develop healthy intimacy and relationships.

The group includes healing activities for the mind, body and spirit. An eight-week session starts March 2, and the group will meet weekly in a hybrid format — in-person in Greenfield and also on Zoom — on Wednesday evenings from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Lynn at 413-774-4307, ext. 3 or [email protected], or Jill at 413-774-4307, ext. 5 or [email protected].

Salasin Project offering Healing Arts Zoom groups

GREENFIELD — The Salasin Project hosts Healing Arts groups on Zoom.

Participants spend time relaxing and connecting with other adult beginners while exploring landscapes, still lifes and a variety of other projects. Days and times vary each month, and no art experience is necessary.

Groups are free to join. Email Bekki at [email protected] or call 413-774-4307, ext. 4 for more information or to register. The Salasin Project can also offer help accessing art supplies.

Support group offered for caregivers

GREENFIELD — The Salasin Project and The RECOVER Project are co-sponsoring a virtual education/support group for caregivers who have domestic violence, and/or substance use histories. The group has open enrollment, so there is no deadline by which to sign up.

The Nurturing Program for Families in Substance Related Treatment and Recovery is a 16-week, evidence-based group designed to offer adult caregivers educational information about human growth and development. This program explores the impact of substance misuse and domestic violence on children and families. The topics from week to week are designed to strengthen participants’ self-esteem and to encourage strength-based models for guiding behaviors in children.

For more information, contact Lynn Norwood at [email protected] or 413-774-4307, ext. 3.

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