LUDLOW — Merriam-Webster defines a heroine as “a woman admired and emulated for her achievements and qualities.” Each year, the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women and state legislators seek out women who exemplify heroism through their contributions to their communities. For the 2024 class of 125 honorees, state Sen. Jake Oliveira selected Ludlow’s Laura Rooney.
Rooney is president of the executive board of the Ludlow CARES Coalition, an all-volunteer organization created in 2012 with a mission to “provide education, support and awareness to promote the health and well-being of our community, especially our youth.”
Oliveira posted on Instagram a picture of him presenting Rooney with a citation from the State Senate. He wrote, “Laura Rooney exemplifies the spirit of community service. Under Laura’s leadership, [the Ludlow CARES Coalition] has become a vital and indispensable partner for local schools, town departments and nonprofits, providing essential programs and resources to promote health and wellness, particularly among our youth. It was my privilege to nominate her as the Hampden, Hampshire & Worcester District’s Commonwealth Heroine for 2024.”
The Ludlow CARES Coalition is an all-volunteer organization made up of more than 200 individuals from various organizations and town departments.
“Our focus initially was to bring education and awareness around substance abuse” particularly for young people, Rooney said. Since then, however, the scope of the group’s mission has expanded. “We’ve evolved to understand that substance misuse is often the result of struggles and problems in people’s lives. With social media, there’s a lot of pressure and substances are easier to access than they were in the ’80s and ’90s.”
The coalition is in the second half of a two-year program bringing mental health first aid to the community. The goal of the program, from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, is to train 1,000 people in Ludlow to recognize the signs of someone who is struggling or in crisis and offer them support and resources. So far, about 450 have been trained.
“You see a change in someone’s behavior, how would you approach that?” Rooney asked, adding that some techniques “encourage a dialog” and others will lead people to shut down. The training “empowers people to have conversations that are difficult,” she said.
Rooney said that because the coalition has been working in the community for the past 12 years, it has gained the trust of those in the schools and the town. Through a “substantial grant” from the Massachusetts chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and opioid relief funds, the coalition was able to train all of Ludlow’s teachers. The training is open to anyone who lives or works in Ludlow.
While Rooney was selected as the Commonwealth Heroine, she said the power behind the coalition is in all its volunteers. “They’re rooted in the community. They care about the community. They come from all walks of life,” she said.
To receive mental health first aid training, email Rooney at ludlowcares@gmail.com. From there, people will be notified of the next scheduled training, which usually happen once per month, from August through May.
For more information on the program, visit mentalhealthfirstaid.org. To learn more about Ludlow CARES Coalition, visit ludlowcarescoalition.org.
