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by LaMara HunterKelly | May 20, 2016 | In The News
Consortium’s Self-Advocacy program will be hosting its 13th Annual West Region Self Advocacy Conference!
Saturday May 21, 2016, 9:00am – 3:15pm
Sheraton, 1 Monarch Place, Springfield, MA 01144
The 2016 West Region Self-Advocacy conference will offer a chance for self-advocates (adults who experience developmental challenges) and supporters from across Western Mass and beyond to come together and participate in multiple growth and learning experiences while also enjoying the sense of connection and community that comes with self-advocacy. This year’s theme is Teamwork with Togetherness.
Massachusetts West Region Self Advocacy is a diverse community of self advocates from across Western Massachusetts committed to learning, advocating, and supporting each other. “West Region Self Advocacy is a team of local self advocates working together to promote education, equal rights, responsibility and informed choice for people with disabilities to live full lives in the community.”
Building on the theme of teamwork with togetherness, the conference will give advocates and allies a chance to enjoy…
- Interesting workshops about all different kinds of relationships and people
- A variety of different resource tables to explore and learn from
- Raffles and prizes, T-shirts for sale for $10.00
- Friendly environment to socialize and meet new people
This year’s conference features keynote speaker, Mr. Joseph Canto, who has been a dedicated self-advocate for much of his life speaking up on many issues. Among his many accomplishments Joe:
- Organized a protest against a movie Tropic Thunder due to disrespectful language towards people with developmental disabilities
- Spoke at a state house event which celebrated the 20 year anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
- Initiated and Organized events to change the name of the Department of Developmental Services
Joe also shares his self-advocacy skills with others by working as a trainer with the statewide self-advocacy group, Massachusetts Advocates Standing Strong (M.A.S.S.). Joe will speak about how self-advocacy and working with others has shaped him.
by LaMara HunterKelly | Apr 22, 2016 | In The News
Michael Lewis, Director of the Recover Project in Greenfield, talks with a member.By Dan Desrosiers
For The Recorder
Friday, April 15, 2016
Michael Lewis, director of the RECOVER Project in Greenfield, hasn’t even been able to get his coat off, and he has been at work for a half-hour already. The women’s writing group needs to be let in and assisted; the chair arrangement in the back of the building has been considered a fire hazard and needs moving; the group’s temporary slogan “Got Recovery?” has a patent against it by another group, and now Lewis and his team must create another catchy line to earworm its way into the heads of those who need help.
All these issues and many others are what Lewis deals with on a daily basis. But these issues are nothing compared to the ones that he dealt with on his way to becoming the director of the RECOVER Project in Greenfield. “I had no job, and my friend was trying to starve me out of his house. I ran out of cocaine and was using crystal meth,” Lewis said. His friend’s house was in El Paso, Texas.
“I was crashing on my friend’s couch and blood was pouring out of my nose, and I just started crying at 3:30 in the morning,” Lewis said. “That’s when I knew I needed help.”
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by LaMara HunterKelly | Mar 1, 2016 | In The News
The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium is pleased to announce its new initiative designed to address the spiritual needs of adults with cognitive challenges it serves. The Consortium’s Home & Community Connections residential program has demonstrated a way to offer spiritual support to folks who have developmental disabilities. “The intention of this program has been to support individuals who are interested in identifying their own spirituality or who have described spirituality as a key component of their lives,” said the Rev. Gregory Jones, Spiritual Care Coordinator for the program, “Spirituality is not a focus on any particular religion, but rather on core values, principles and philosophies that reflect personal life experiences.”
Many times individuals and families are in need of moral support as they face tough challenges. The program offers grief support for people coping with the passing of loved ones and friends. In addition, people often seek the spiritual component of the supports offered to rediscover their connection to community sources such as church, synagogues, or mosques. Home and Community Connection’s Spiritual Care Program directly supports the mission of the Consortium: The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium is a learning organization, committed to creating conditions in which people with lived experience pursue their dreams and strengthen our communities through full participation. “We’ve received positive feedback regarding these supports thus far and expect that the practice will deepen over time,” said Marylou Sullivan, Executive Director.
For more information about Home and Community Connection’s Spiritual Care Coordination or other supports, please visit: http://wmtcinfo.org/programs/home-community-connections/
Western Massachusetts Training Consortium 40 Years of Creating Conditions for Innovation, Growth and Connections
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by LaMara HunterKelly | Feb 29, 2016 | In The News
When You Worry about the Child You Love: Emotional and Learning Challenges in Children
The Support Network announces annual children’s mental health week dinner
Holyoke May 5, 2016: The Support Network, a program of the Western Massachusetts Training Consortium, is pleased to announce its upcoming annual dinner in recognition of the national Children’s Mental Health Week. This year The Support Network will be hosting an internationally known guest speaker, Dr. Ned Hallowell, speaking on the topic “When You Worry about the Child You Love: Emotional and Learning Challenges in Children” based on his book of the same title. Dr. Hallowell is a child and adult psychiatrist, a former instructor at Harvard Medical School, a New York Times best-selling author, a world-renowned speaker and a leading authority in the field of ADHD. He is also the founder of the Hallowell Centers in Boston, New York, California and Washington. www.drhallowell.com.
The dinner brings together parents, caregivers, professionals and community members all who have a vested interest in the social and emotional health of the children in our lives and in our neighborhoods, and highlights the need for more public services for them. “There is significant impact when people come together to show their dedicated concern about children’s healthy emotional development and to demonstrate their united support of each other and the children. We find that bringing parents together who have lived experience creates an alliance and strong advocates for children’s rights” said Carol Lambert, Director of the Support Network. The Support Network directly supports the mission of the Consortium: The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium is a learning organization, committed to creating condition in which people with lived experience pursue their dreams and strengthen our communities through full participation.
The Annual Children’s Mental Health Week dinner will be held on Thursday, May 5, 2016 from 5:30-8:00 PM at the Log Cabin, 500 Easthampton Street, Holyoke, MA. Registration information for the event will be available late March. For more information contact Carol Lambert at 413-536-2401 ext. 3007 or clambert@wmtcinfo.org or see www.childrensemotionalhealth.org to learn more about The Support Network.
by LaMara HunterKelly | Feb 23, 2016 | In The News
By TOM RELIHAN
Recorder Staff
Monday, February 22, 2016
(Published in print: Tuesday, February 23, 2016)
GREENFIELD — Recovering from an addiction to alcohol or drugs is by no means a comfortable process. Just ask Kaitlyn John, a staff member at the RECOVER Project on Federal Street, which offers peer support for people recovering from substance abuse problems.
When she began her own journey toward recovery three and a half years ago, her body was in revolt. Coming off of an addiction to pain pills, she had problems with digestion, with sleeping, and many other symptoms — physically, mentally and spiritually.
“I wanted to have a comfort in my body, to just feel at one with my body,” John said. “It took me so long to get into recovery, to find recovery, and then to have all these internal things going on and to not feel comfortable in my own skin … that wasn’t OK with me.”
Through her involvement with the RECOVER Project, she was able to meet Leslie Chaison, a local herbalist who runs the People’s Medicine Project, a free alternative medicine clinic held on Mondays from noon to 4 p.m. in the RECOVER Project’s large back room.
The project offers alternative medicine in the form of herbalism, acupuncture, massage, homeopathy, craniosacral therapy and energy healing sessions, and John said taking part in it made all the difference in her recovery process…
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by LaMara HunterKelly | Jan 22, 2016 | In The News
Sunday, January 24, 2016
(Published in print: Monday, January 25, 2016)
Mr. Michael Lewis is no stranger to the RECOVER Project. Born and raised in Western Mass, Michael’s early adult life took him across the country, serving as a Marine, owning a business and various other jobs including being a baker and truck driver. He eventually returned to this area where he attended Greenfield Community College and earned his social work degree from Elms College. While enrolled at Elms, Michael worked for GCC, interned and then worked under a short-term funded grant for the RECOVER Project…
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