Isolation and opioids during the pandemic

Isolation and opioids during the pandemic

By Mattea Kramer
Published September 27, 2020 2:17AM (UTC)

This piece originally appeared on TomDispatch.

…Back in March, one of the first recommendations for reducing the transmission of the coronavirus was, of course, to stay home — but not everyone has a home, and when businesses, restaurants, libraries, and other public spaces locked their doors, some people were left without a place even to wash their hands. In Holyoke, Rafael Rodriguez and his colleagues at the Recovery Learning Community, along with staff from several other local organizations, rushed to city officials and asked that a handwashing station and portable toilets be installed for the many local people who live unhoused. Rodriguez sees such measures not only as fundamental acts of humanity, but also as essential to any viable treatment for addiction.

“It’s really hard to think about recovery, or putting down substances, when [your] basic human needs aren’t being met,” he said. In the midst of extreme summer heat, he pointed out that there wasn’t even a local cooling center for people on the streets and it was clear that, despite everything he had seen in his life, he found this astonishing. He is now part of a community movement that is petitioning the local city government for an emergency shelter.

“When you have no idea where you’re going to rest your head at night, using substances almost becomes a survival tactic,” he explained. “It’s a way to be able to navigate this cruel world.” […] [CONTINUE READING]

Artists in recovery celebrate National Recovery Month with song, stories

Artists in recovery celebrate National Recovery Month with song, stories

Amie Hyson listens during a rehearsal for “What Our Voices Carry”, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019 at Shea Theater in Turners Falls.

 

By ANITA FRITZ

Staff Writer

Published: 10/8/2020 6:00:49 AM

…Amie Hyson, who has served as a peer counselor at the RECOVER Project, followed him, reading an original piece. “I’m a woman in long-term recovery,” she said before she started to read. “I was addicted to opioids. I facilitated my own healing through writing.”

Today, she works with women in the Franklin County Jail running a writing group.

“It has been a good, long time since this old familiar voice felt an impeding sense of dread,” she continued.

She read a piece that talks about her “dis-ease” and how she learned to “silence thoughts that had haunted” her. Hyson says she is now comfortable with herself. She also talked about how alone she has felt through the pandemic — just like everyone else — and that the old demons tried to return during this time of COVID, but the fear passed and she returned to gratitude…

[CONTINUE READING]

Mayor’s task force focusing on rise in domestic violence during pandemic

[CONTINUE READING]…“Advocates can help you to think about your personal situation and work with you to create a safety plan,” the statement reads, adding that a safety plan is a personalized, practical plan that identifies ways to remain safe while in a relationship, whether you are planning to stay or leave. “It may include telling a trusted neighbor or friend, identifying a place to stay if you need to leave quickly or thinking about ways to stay safe in your home if your partner becomes physically abusive.”

Free and confidential help is available at Montague Catholic Social Ministries in Turners Falls at 413-863-4804, The Salasin Project in Greenfield at 413-774-4307, and the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition (NELCWIT) hotline at 413-772-0806. The NELCWIT hotline operates 24/7.

The Task Force on Domestic Violence typically meets in the Town Hall Meeting Room at 1 p.m. on the second Wednesday of every month, though the pandemic has forced these meetings to be conducted via Zoom. For more information on the task force, visit bit.ly/3iUfPWf.

New directors with The RECOVER Project, Consortium announced

Published: 8/27/2020 1:36:25 PM

The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium, which supports The RECOVER Project and The Salasin Project in Greenfield, is promoting Peggy Vezina, formerly the director of The RECOVER Project, to be the Consortium’s director of program and community development. Taking Vezina’s seat as RECOVER Project director is Abbi Cushing. [CONTINUE READING]

Artists in recovery celebrate National Recovery Month with song, stories

RECOVER Project holds annual vigil with safety precautions

Luminaries with the names of local people lost to the effects of addiction for International Overdose Awareness Day on Monday evening outside the RECOVER Project on Federal Street.

By ANITA FRITZ

Staff Writer
Published: 9/1/2020 4:07:44 PM

GREENFIELD – Sarah Ahern stood on Federal Street with several others on a recent cool summer night, clutching a large folder to her chest and mourning the loss of more than 70 people who have died of overdose or addiction-related complications in Franklin County over the past few years.

“In the first quarter of this year, we saw a significant increase in the region,” Ahern said Monday night at the RECOVER Project vigil. “Isolation does that, it feeds the disease.”

[CONTINUE READING]

New Directors Within the RECOVER Project and the Consortium Announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mary Kate Farley-Dimino
The Consortium
(413) 536-2401 x5511
[email protected]

New Directors Within the RECOVER Project and the Consortium Announced

Welcome Peggy Vezina and Abbi Cushing in their leadership opportunities!

HOLYOKE, MA August 19, 2020 – The Consortium is excited to announce the promotions of two strong advocates within the Western Massachusetts recovery communities. Peggy Vezina is to serve as the Consortium’s Director of Program and Community Development and Abbi Cushing as the new Director of the RECOVER Project.

RECOVER Project Director, Peggy Vezina steps into new role as the Consortium’s Director of Program and Community Development!

 

Peggy Vezina joined the Consortium as the Director of the RECOVER Project in Greenfield. During her career, she has worked throughout the Pioneer Valley in many diverse non-profit settings, including with youth in the Holyoke, Greenfield and Springfield communities. Her new role as Director of Program and Community Development, expands her commitment to being part of a movement of people who are changing the way we look at the world and how we engage and interact in this paradigm shift in meaningful ways. She will now be offering support to Consortium communities and projects throughout the Pioneer Valley, including the Consortium’s newest recovery community in Ware. Peggy will also be supporting the coordination of the Consortium’s involvement in the national HEALing Communities Study – both as a Wave 1 community in Holyoke and a Wave 2 community in Ware.

In all of her work, Peggy continues to be a strong advocate for elevating the voices of people who have faced tremendous adversity and creating space where they can flourish and lead. Wherever she is she fosters the development of the peer leader model, and focuses on staff and peer development by ensuring the peer voice is represented at all the tables discussing recovery in the context of the larger community.

Welcome New RECOVER Project Director, Abbi Cushing!

 

Abbi comes with over a decade of involvement with the RECOVER Project and with the recovery movement. Such roles include the RECOVER Project’s Peer Leader, where she helped establish the recovery program for students in recovery at Greenfield Community College, as well as serving as one of the founding members of the Advisory Board of the North Quabbin Recovery Center and 2 1/2 years of experience as a recovery coach at Center for Human Development (CHD) where she completed her CARC Certification. Abbi has emerged as a leader in peer recovery coaching in our area and has established the Building Accessible Communities of Recovery at the RECOVER Project, which provides an infrastructure of recovery coaching that is sustainable for our communities as well as for coaches while expanding access to recovery supports for both individuals who identify they need for such support and for the coaches/supports themselves.

Abbi has been working at The RECOVER Project for the past 22 months in a variety of roles (Office Manager, Recovery Coach Supervisor, and Assistant Director). Abbi enjoys helping others learn how to live their most authentic lives. However, her biggest joy in life comes from being the best mom she can to her daughter, Olivia.

The Consortium, founded in 1975, is a learning organization committed to creating conditions in which people with lived experience pursue their dreams and strengthen our communities through full participation. To learn more, visit their website at http://wmtcinfo.org.