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by LaMara HunterKelly | Sep 7, 2018 | In The News
Collaboration In Health/Wellness: The Consortium And The Opioid Task Force
By George O’Brien
September 3, 2018
This Unique Initiative Has a Simple Mission: to Save Lives
Larry Thomas remembers not knowing exactly what to say or how to respond.
He had just been encouraged to apply for a job as a peer coordinator and recovery coach for something called the Recover Project, a recovery support center operating in downtown Greenfield under the umbrella of the Western Mass. Training Consortium and funded by the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services in Massachusetts. Thomas paused, because the last job he held was as part of a work-release program operated by the Department of Corrections.
“I had never had a job as a free man, applying on my own,” he explained. “When they posted the job, people said I should apply. I said, ‘maybe I should, but I don’t even have a résumé.’ I did apply, but I was scared to put down the last place I worked, because I was still in jail.’”
Thomas, in applying and then earning the job, essentially put his past behind him and focused on solidifying his future, which is, by and large, what he encourages others to do as a recovery coach. He takes his ‘lived experience’ — that’s a phrase you’ll read often in this article — and puts it to work helping others combating addiction and trying to put their lives back together.
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by LaMara HunterKelly | Aug 27, 2018 | In The News
We are thrilled to announce that Pam Fitzpatrick has accepted the position as the Consortium’s new Salasin Project Director beginning on Monday August 27, 2018!
Pam Fitzpatrick comes to Salasin Project with many years’ experience working in the social service field. In one of her more recent long-term positions, she worked as the Director in a non-profit agency partnering with families to have a voice and decide on the best services to meet their needs. While there, she managed a large budget and stretched resources to serve many individuals and families in the Franklin and Hampshire Counties.
Pam believes in resilience and the power of community. She has witnessed many people overcome great hardships and challenges. She believes in the ability to change and the realization of potential. She received her Master’s Degree in New York City at Hunter College School of Social Work and later went on to get her LICSW. In one of her roles she had the distinct pleasure of working with Maria Rodman where she furthered her knowledge of Trauma Informed Care.
Faith, family and friends are three extremely important gifts that help to balance day-to-day living for Pam. She can often be counted on to carry a small bottle of bubbles and believes that sometimes it is the simplest of things that bring the greatest joy. Her husband Mike and their rescue dog Cleo, short for Cleopatra, enjoy hiking, camping and relaxing in all four seasons of New England (well maybe not the camping).
Welcome Pam!
by LaMara HunterKelly | Jul 30, 2018 | In The News
After a thorough recruitment process which included some really impressive candidates, we are thrilled to announce that Candace Pronovost has been selected as our new Home & Community Connections Director beginning on Monday August 20, 2018!
Candace comes to us with over a decade of residential experience, and has a clear understanding of the demands and needs in the “residential world”. It was in her most recent role as a Department of Developmental Services (DDS) Service Coordinator out of the Holyoke/Chicopee DDS that she became familiar with the Consortium, working very closely with some of the people supported in Home & Community Connections. She says it was these positive experiences that actually drew her to our organization! Winde Whitaker, H&CC’s Assistant Director, referred Candace for this role saying that in her experience, Candace has been a “one of a kind” DDS Service Coordinator, who is consistently approachable, honest and resourceful – an absolute “wealth of knowledge.” She also says that Candace has a very straight forward approach and is a “good teacher,” always looking to team with staff to best meet the individualized needs of the people being supported.
In addition to her work at DDS, Candace’s professional experience includes working for ServiceNet in Chicopee as the Residential Program Director of an emergency respite program providing housing for individuals who were experiencing homelessness. She’s also worked as an IHT Case Manager at Clinical & Support Options in Springfield, providing case management on an In-Home Therapy team. Early in her career, Candace served as Sexual Health Educator/HIV Counseling and Testing and Education Liaison for the Western MA Area Department of Youth Services (DYS) in Northampton, MA. In 2004, she graduated with a degree in Psychology from, what was then known as, Bay Path College in Longmeadow.
The Home & Community Connections’ Director of Residential and Community Supports oversees the full range of DDS funded supports in our agency. Executive Director, Marylou Sullivan, believes that Candace’s open and frank discussions throughout the interview process demonstrate what a great fit she is for this role and for the agency. Along with her professional experience, Candace brings insight, strong organizational, and management skills, and a substantial sense of accountability. She believes very strongly in the mission of providing happy, healthy homes for the individuals supported by Home & Community Connections.
Candace has strong local roots. She grew up in Easthampton and currently lives in Holyoke. She enjoys spending time with her two boys and her new daughter along with her fiancé. They all enjoy traveling and sports. Welcome Candace!
by LaMara HunterKelly | Jun 22, 2018 | In The News
Western Mass Recovery Learning Community on Chapman Street in Greenfield. December 20, 2017By JOSHUA SOLOMON
Recorder Staff
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
GREENFIELD — The days of getting mixed up with its neighbors on Federal Street are now past them and instead the Recovery Learning Community at 20 Chapman St. is now finally feeling at home.
To celebrate its new center, the RLC is hosting an open house and open mic Wednesday.
From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. members of the community are welcomed in for an open house, where there will be some homemade snacks offered, and then from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. there will be an open mic.
“We’ve had a strong revitalization of the community since (opening its doors in October) at this new space,” Natan Cohen, a peer and employee of the RLC, said.
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by LaMara HunterKelly | May 2, 2018 | In The News
Lynn Ferro, who is the director of Northampton Recovery Center, directs Stephen Milanovich, an inmate at the Hampshire County Jail, as he moves a writing board at the center’s new location at 2 Gleason Plaza, Monday, April 30, 2018.By SARAH ROBERTSON
Staff Writer, Daily Hampshire Gazette
NORTHAMPTON — Thanks to an anonymous donor, the Northampton Recovery Center, a peer-driven support group for drug abuse victims run by the Northwestern district attorney’s office, moved to a new site Monday and will soon expand its services and hours of operation.
After operating out of Edwards Church for the last 18 months, the Recovery Center now has its own space at 2 Gleason Plaza. On Tuesday, the Recovery Center will host an open house all day at its new site in celebration of Valley Gives Day.
“We can expand our hours and we will be able to provide so many more programs,” said Lynn Ferro, director of the district attorney’s Drug Abuse Task Force and interim director of the Recovery Center. “Everybody is so excited about it.”
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by LaMara HunterKelly | Apr 9, 2018 | In The News
The Becker Trust Grants for Innovation
PICTURED: Rev. Gregory Jones, Spiritual Care Coordinator for Home & Community Connections, and Consortium Executive Director, Marylou Sullivan.
Special Announcement on the Becker Innovation Grants. Read more HERE
About the Innovation Grants
In the fall of 2017, the Trustees and Advisors of the Becker Family Trust in conjunction with the Becker Center for Advocacy received dozens of incredible applications for the Becker Family Trust Grants for Innovation.
From these numerous and impressive applicants, the committee (consisting of Alex Moschella, Esq.; Cynthia Haddad, CFP; and Elin Howe, MPA) selected a total of 20 recipients, awarding a sum of $925,000. Eight recipients will be receiving grants ranging from $50,000-$100,000; other, smaller grants were awarded to an additional twelve agencies.
Grants awarded by The Becker Family Trust are for innovative, high impact projects benefiting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities for social inclusion, self-determination, employment, assistive technology and supported living.
The recipients of the Becker Family Trust Grants for Innovation were announced on March 30, 2018.
Small Grants: Western Massachusetts Training Consortium Expanding Interfaith Option
Home & Community Connections, a program of the Western Massachusetts Training Consortium (The Consortium), has been a pioneer in bringing Spiritual Care Coordination to the people it supports. We currently meet the inter-faith spiritual care needs of over 50 individuals, including people with complex medical conditions, autism, and aging individuals and their caregivers. Our focus area is on “social inclusion” because we believe that exploring spirituality not only encourages the individuals who are examining their life experiences to find meaning and purpose, but also, that cultivating the inherent spirituality of all people has the power to shift public perception and humanize the struggles of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Such a shift creates conditions for truly nurturing and inclusive inter-faith communities. We have already witnessed individual explorations of spirituality leading to strengthened support networks, which include vital connections with compassionate, like-minded people. Our conviction is that these integral connections also foster social inclusion, not only by increasing individual participation in faith-based communities but also by simply illuminating the innate spirituality of all human beings regardless of ability.
The goal of this project is to learn from the experiences of the people who have already benefitted from Home & Community Connections’ Spiritual Care Coordination pilot program. We plan to apply this learning and expand this work by creating a sustainable training model that will open doors for other providers to offer more spiritually sensitive supports. Our objectives are to:
- Build upon learning of the people served and the inter-faith communities in which they participate
- Convene experts in the field of providing spiritual care for people with developmental disabilities
- Offer training that will give voice to the experiences of the people we support
- Create conditions to shift the mindset of inter-faith communities, students, and professionals who provide care for people with intellectual/developmental disabilities
Leading the project is Reverend Gregory Jones, a licensed Minister since 2002 at Saint John’s Congregational Church in Springfield, MA, who graduated from Hartford Seminary’s “Black Ministries Program” in 2003. From 2003-2007, Rev. Jones served at Saint John’s Congregational Church as Assistant to the Senior Pastor and Minister of Membership Care, gaining experience including visitation of the sick, pastoral care, and counseling. He was ordained in 2005 through the Bible Counseling Ministries in Springfield, MA and completed 1 Unit of Clinical Pastoral Education through Baystate Medical Center. He has studied at Our Lady of the Elms College Religious Studies Program, and has served as Spiritual Development Counselor and Coach with the American Association for Christian Counseling.
After seven years of working with people with disabilities as a direct care professional, Rev. Gregory Jones draws from his personal, professional, and academic experiences to continue developing the Spiritual Care program at Home & Community Connections. He is a visionary whose leadership on this project has already made a profound impact on our community and tremendous advances toward the goal of supporting the inherent worth and value of a group of people who have often been invisible in traditional faith communities. Upholding the Consortium’s mission to “create conditions in which people with lived experience pursue their dreams and strengthen our communities through full participation,” means that our unique communities always reflect the wisdom of the people who participate in them. This project builds on the Consortium’s mission and promotes social inclusion by building bridges and reinforcing the irrefutable truth that an individual’s “spirit” IS the common thread of our shared humanity.
