Easthampton Wellness creates community hub for mental health, substance use resources

Easthampton Wellness will occur every second Friday of the month inside of CHD.
Reminder Publishing photos by Trent Levakis

EASTHAMPTON — Organizers recently celebrated the launch of a new resource to help those who have been directly or indirectly impacted by substance use or mental health issues.

Easthampton Wellness, a new event set to occur on the second Friday of each month, gives the public the opportunity learn about local resources, discuss mental health, substance use and recovery, and receive support.

The first event kicked off on March 13 at the Center for Human Development.

This initiative is a partnership between CHD, Learn to Cope West and Easthampton’s Drug Addiction Recovery Team. Other organizations present at the event were the Northampton Recovery Center, Tapestry, Hampshire Hope, the Division of Community Care and Massachusetts Young People in Recovery.

The events are free and open to the public and pizza will be provided.

Easthampton Mental Health and Wellness Coordinator Emma Reilly told Reminder Publishing that Easthampton Wellness is an evolution from DART Drop-in Hours, which was a similar event looking to connect those interested with resources around substance abuse or mental health and was based out of Learn to Cope in the Eastworks building.

“We weren’t getting that much traffic. There’s a variety of reasons why I think that may have been, but we decided to expand to a more broad wellness focus because of mental health, substance use, really kind of any form of wellness or wellbeing that someone might need,” said Reilly.

Reilly said the new Easthampton Wellness events function as a more collaborative effort between the community’s different organizations that offer these resources, including CHD.

“I’m hoping people will be able to come and get access to more resources in one location. But it’s also a great opportunity for these different organizations to partner with each other and learn about what each other does,” added Reilly. “It’s a good networking opportunity, so it both meets the community need of having a central location for mental health, substance use resources, but also for the providers. I think it’s good.”

Reilly gave some inspirational credit to Palmer Wellness — a twice-monthly series aiming to bridge gaps for those looking for resources relating to mental health or substance use — for providing an example of what could be possible in Easthampton.

Transcend Recovery Coaching facilitator and Peer Support Specialist Jason Steele told Reminder Publishing he knows firsthand from his work in Palmer the benefits that come from the wellness events and that he can see from his visit that Easthampton is on the right track when it comes to creating a similar impact in the community.

“Why not have it in one place where essentially everyone knows, ‘oh, I go there and everyone’s in there,’” said Steele. “It’s not about who you are and who you’re competitively against in recovery or mental health. It’s case management. If you can’t help and support someone, you should be open enough to say they can do better, and that’s the way it needs to be. It needs to be about the person-centered process and not about the bottom line of anything.”

Northampton Recovery Center Recovery Coach and Peer Support Specialist Betsy Allen told Reminder Publishing that she has been with the group for about eight years and received her own recovery support through CHD. She added that collaborations between community organizations like Easthampton Wellness help bridge the gaps between those seeking mental health or substance use and the resources available.

“I think for many of us it’s just simply a safe place, somewhere you could feel comfortable, support meetings, the other things that go on there. We really do have a good community,” said Allen. “It’s nice to be able to point people in the direction of the right resources and say you can advocate for yourself, and I think personally it means more to them.”

More information on the event can be found on the city of Easthampton’s Facebook page.