Gulluni presents funds to addiction recovery programs

Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni presents a check for $10,000 to the Michael J. Dias Foundation. The funds are a grant from the District Attorney Drug Diversion and Education Fund.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen

SPRINGFIELD — Standing on the lawn of Michael’s House, a sober living home in Springfield, Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni handed checks out to the leaders of organizations that address the needs of people in addiction recovery.

The grants are part of the District Attorney’s Drug Diversion and Education Fund, funded through a state legislative allocation.

This year, Gulluni’s Office distributed $45,450 to four area organizations. The Michael J. Dias Foundation operates Michael’s House and another sober living house, Christian and Bryan’s House, and a transition house named Sean’s Place. The homes are open to adult men in 12-step recovery programs and emphasize community, accountability, shared responsibilities and a daily structure. Sean’s House focuses on self-reliance throughout recovery and social reintegration.

Interim Executive Director Gina Maria Alimberti accepted a check for $10,000 from Gulluni. The fund has provided a total of $75,000 to the foundation over several years.

Alimberti said, “If we didn’t have the support, especially the local support, we wouldn’t be able to help our residents.”

The foundation is working to create a women’s sober living home in Springfield. It has secured more than $310,000 of its $500,000 capital funding campaign for the project. “We’re seriously looking for help to get the women’s house,” Alimberti said. With just one sober living home for women in Springfield, she said, “What happens with women, they get clean, they go through detox, then they don’t have anywhere to go, and the cycle starts all over again.”

Kevin Stevens is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and a U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer whose experience with recovery inspired he and his family to create Power Forward. The organization provides scholarships for the costs associated with six weeks in a sober-living facility. Gulluni presented a check for $15,000 to Stevens and his sister, President and CEO Kelly Wilson.

Describing Power Forward, treasurer and board member Willy Wilson said, “It’s a bridge from detox to society. A lot of people, when they come out, have no place to go. They’ve burned every bridge.” Power Forward vets the sober living facilities and the scholarship recipients, who are required to look for employment and be in counseling.

He said a drug addiction physician on the Power Forward Board of Directors found research showing that taking care of a pet increases the likelihood of success. Based on this, Willy Wilson said Power Forward created the Dog Ownership Enhancing Recovery program, through which they place a trained dog in a sober living home. The residents are responsible for the dog’s care and receive its unconditional love in return. Power Forward has also created a recovery medical record software that can follow people throughout their recovery, while providing transparency and accountability.

One of the organizations not present at the event was Baystate Health, which works with the district attorney’s office to provide naloxone to first responders across Hampden County. “If we can save lives and give people a chance to recover, then that’s what we do,” Gulluni said.

The other grant recipient was the Vietnamese Cultural Association. Gulluni said, “They do really, really good work. They’ve developed a culturally specific program around addiction.”

Over Gulluni’s time in office, he said society’s understanding of addiction has changed. “I think the perception around addiction has changed. We understand that it’s an illness. There was still a stigma,” when he first took office.