FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mary Kate Farley-Dimino
The Consortium
(413) 536-2401 x5511
mfarley-dimino@wmtcinfo.org
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.
