by LaMara HunterKelly | Nov 26, 2019 | In The News
November 26, 2019
Contact: Abby Ferla, People’s Medicine Project
(413) 523-3791 ; peoplesmedicineclinic@gmail.com
People’s Medicine Project’s long-time client and friend Peter Hadley is launching a new catering company BASH, making its Pioneer Valley debut with an elaborate locally-sourced Tapas Style Dinner at Greenfield’s Hawks and Reed on Wednesday December 4th from 6-8PM! BASH emphasizes quality above convenience in both service and food preparation, with custom services to fit each client’s needs while focusing on supporting local resources and remaining environmentally mindful!
Please join People’s Medicine for an innovative and delicious spin on the Spanish tapas tradition of small portions, using organic, local, and sustainably-sourced ingredients. Enjoy live jazz piano by the masterful Khaliff Neville (of the Neville Brothers) while you eat and sample a signature non-alcoholic botanical drink at the full service bar. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the People’s Medicine Project, a Health Justice organization and free alternative health clinic. Members of the Project will be present to speak about their organization’s community-sustaining work. Tickets can be purchased through the Hawks and Reed website at:
https://hawksandreed.ticketfly.com/e/bash-a-tapas-style-dinner-raising-funds-for-the-people-s-medicine-project-81549995231/
Or, save the ticket fee, by calling Hawks and Reed directly at (413) 774-0150 – leave your name, your phone number and that you’re interested in tickets to BASH and they will call you back!
Finally, be sure to ACT QUICKLY, because People’s Medicine is giving away **FREE TICKETS** to the first FIVE people who sign up to be sustaining donors before the event. Sustaining donors are the backbone of PMP. Becoming a sustaining donor means YOU support the vitally important work of increasing access to alternative and complementary medicine, and YOUR bold ongoing commitment promotes heath justice in our community. Visit peoplesmedicineproject.com/donate TODAY to become a sustaining donor! And don’t worry, even if you’re not one of the lucky first five to sign up, anyone who pledges to be a sustaining donor during PMP’s Giving Tuesday campaign, will receive a fabulous PMP t-shirt designed by Carol at Taproot Threads!
by LaMara HunterKelly | Nov 26, 2019 | In The News
By KRISTEL APPLEBEE, Consortium Executive Director
For the Gazette
Published: 11/26/2019 12:01:19 AM
The term “opioid epidemic” has become as American as apple pie in our nation’s lexicon. Here in western Massachusetts, communities have been hit hard by the crisis, with families grieving unthinkable losses. It seems most people know someone impacted. As a result, funding for opioid education, treatment, and prevention has increased; this concentrated community focus on solutions has also brought support for the peer recovery movement, specifically through recovery support centers funded by the state.
Treatment is a critical piece of the recovery continuum of care, offering a foothold to those in the deep throes of addiction. But treatment alone is not enough. Having a welcoming place for folks in early recovery to connect, heal and grow by participating and sharing with one another, can provide a solid foundation for lifelong recovery. Many people in recovery find they need support throughout their lives. Though recovery is an inside job, a supportive community is the key to success…
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by LaMara HunterKelly | Nov 1, 2019 | In The News
Amie Hyson listens during a rehearsal for “What Our Voices Carry”, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019 at Shea Theater in Turners Falls.By LUIS FIELDMAN
Staff Writer
Published: 11/1/2019 10:01:42 PM
Through prose and poetry, women of the group Voices From Inside find a way to express experiences that are often too difficult to talk about, whether it’s life inside of a prison or recovering from drug addiction…
“We are putting these words together to create scenes that enable us to show what women go through who are incarcerated, who have been incarcerated, who are in recovery, who have experienced domestic violence or sexual trafficking,” said Amie Hyson, a Greenfield resident who discovered Voices From Inside in March 2017 and is an actress in the play.
While in long-term recovery from prescription pain medications at The RECOVER Project in Greenfield, Hyson formed bonds with other women in the Voices From Inside workshops where women could open up about painful experiences through their writing in an environment free from personal criticism…
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by LaMara HunterKelly | Oct 24, 2019 | In The News
Cara Moser and Julie Foster look at photos and talk about their daughters after a meeting of Harm Reduction Works in July at the Northampton Recovery Center. Both women lost their daughters to opioid overdoses and now are working to promote harm reduction practices.By LAURIE LOISEL
For the Gazette
On a balmy Wednesday evening in late July, 11 people circled up on comfy couches and chairs at the Northampton Recovery Center for the weekly gathering of Harm Reduction Works, a meeting billed as an alternative to abstinence-only opioid recovery groups.
“I’m here because I feel compelled to be here,” said Cara Moser in a round of introductions. “My daughter died eight months ago, and I feel like it’s important to learn as much as we can about keeping people alive.”
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![Rally protests Baystate’s plan to close 3 mental health units]()
by LaMara HunterKelly | Sep 24, 2019 | In The News
Tim Ranney-Blake, of Deerfield, said from his experience with depression and substance abuse, he knows how difficult it would be for patients working towards recovery to do so when separated from their community, at a rally held by the Massachusetts Nurses Association in Holyoke. STAFF PHOTO/MELINA BOURDEAU
By MELINA BOURDEAU
Staff Writer
Published: 9/23/2019 11:10:38 PM
HOLYOKE – Over 40 people gathered to protest Baystate Health’s closure plan at the former site of the Holyoke Geriatric Authority building, purchased by Baystate and US HealthVest to build a for-profit mental health facility…
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Tim Ranney-Blake, of South Deerfield, spoke about his experience as a previous patient from the mental health unit at Baystate Franklin.
He said he received the support he needed which is why he advocates for others to have access to the same treatment.
“I am not going to step back,” said Ranney-Blake. “I am going to step forward and I am going to keep telling Baystate: end this partnership now. End it now. It’ll be so much easier for you if you do. In order to keep it quality, it’s got to be local and accessible.”
He said as a member of the recovery community, he knows there are people who don’t have transportation, which poses another problem.
“You’re not going to get somebody from up there down here and back in a day,” said Ranney-Blake. “Hear me and help me to say stop this partnership now.”
Charlemont resident Sarah Ahern said she is a woman who has survived traumas that have labeled her with PTSD, traumatic brain injury, depression and anxiety. Many times, Ahern said she needed inpatient care to help her manage her symptoms.
“Imagine having to navigate a broken system, involuntarily spending multiple days in an ER and sent to treatment three hours away,” Ahern said. “Now you’re beginning to understand my story.”
Ahern said she was comforted by people who knew her and who were looking out for her, and that she was sharing her story for those who do not have the resiliency that she had.
“We are not second class citizens,” Ahern said. “To move our mental health care to a for-profit setting would block access to our most vulnerable who may need it, by not taking insurance many of us have.”
by LaMara HunterKelly | Sep 19, 2019 | In The News
The RECOVER Project in Greenfield. Staff Photo/PAUL FRANZBy MAUREEN O’REILLY
Staff Writer
Published: 9/19/2019 7:06:44 PM
Modified: 9/19/2019 7:06:32 PM
GREENFIELD — Steven “Skip” Sommer’s tour of The RECOVER Project’s building led through a kitchen, a meditation room, a colorful family playroom, a computer area and down a hallway to a large room with hardwood floors and stacks of red folding chairs along one wall…
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All are welcome to attend the meeting, Vezina said, noting that recovery has a different definition to each individual. It may mean recovery from a substance abuse, mental health issues, trauma, domestic violence or something else.
“People define recovery however they define it,” Vezina said. “It doesn’t matter (how you define recovery), everyone is welcome. It’s that connection and sharing that really works to support people.
“I think that addiction often comes out of disconnect,” Vezina continued. “The antidote to that is connection and strong community.”
