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September 6, 2024: Issue 17

Offering hope and help to those impacted by opioid misuse in

Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region.

UPCOMING EVENTS

See what's happening at OTF this month.

COVID-19 RESOURCES

Explore OTF's COVID-19 Resource Guide.

MASSACHUSETTS SUBSTANCE USE HELPLINE

Hope is here. Get help.

413Cares
Resources for Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region. Click here.

NQCC'S RESOURCES

Resources and upcoming events in the North Quabbin Region. Click here.

CONNECTIONS #82

Find local resources in this issue.

Emergency Services Resources for Unhoused Individuals

The PACES CONNECTION

Click here for resources.

Grayken Center for Addiction

Training & Technical Assistance

Click here to view and/or register for trainings.

GCC Community Engagement and Workshop Events

Click here to view and/or register for trainings.

Rural SUD Info Center

Click here for resources.

“We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”

~Eleanor Roosevelt


Greetings~


September is National Recovery Month!


National Recovery Month is a nationwide observance established by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in 1989. It is designed to celebrate, support, and promote the recovery community while also bringing attention and awareness to the dedicated service providers, advocates, friends, and family members who make all forms of recovery possible. 


Millions of individuals have had their lives transformed through recovery. September is a time to celebrate this! We can do that by reinforcing positive messaging around the topic of individuals living with substance use disorder (SUD). It is essential to spread messages of hope and resilience to our communities and to show people that recovery is possible, education and prevention methods work, treatment in its various forms is both effective and transformative, and that harm reduction saves lives. There is no one right path of recovery and people can and do recover!

      

National Recovery Month inspires communities around the country to host a variety of events throughout the month of September that allow for us to work towards reducing the stigma of addiction by lifting up the voices of people in recovery and illuminating their strength, resilience and progress. Every individual, personal recovery story that is shared allows for deeper human connection and understanding and provides a message of hope by showing people recovery is possible.  


This is very personal to me, as one day at a time, I have been living a healthy and happy life in recovery now for over eleven years. Recovery has allowed me to have beautiful, meaningful relationships with my friends, family, and colleagues. It has allowed me to work towards healing from the trauma of my past and reconnect with myself and the world around me. I have also been able to give back to the recovery community by working in a field where I am actively striving to break down barriers for individuals living with substance use disorder. I am grateful to be in recovery and to all those who have helped me and continue to support me on this path. 

       

As we celebrate and observe National Recovery Month this September, it’s important to acknowledge and remember all those we have lost. In lifting up the voices of people in recovery we can be beacons of light for those still struggling, their families, friends and communities. There is hope and people can and do recover. 

      

In honor of National Recovery Month, The RECOVER Project is hosting a free, family-friendly, community event on Friday, September 20th, from 1 pm -4 pm at Energy Park in Greenfield. This event will include fellowship and a celebration of recovery with a variety of resources, activities, performances and food. Hope to see you there! 



Sincerely,

Kristen Cuddy-Pease

Program Associate, Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region

NQRC Photo Collage Project

Pictures can be emailed to Htaylor@nqcc.org . When sending in pictures please be sure to identify the picture as person in recovery or loved one lost.


OTF Members in the News

"Towns Expand Access to Naloxone"

Greenfield Recorder (8/24/24)

 More towns across Franklin County have started the process of installing outdoor naloxone cabinets, increasing access to the lifesaving drug that is designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. The Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG), through its Cooperative Public Health Service, started the Rural Communities Naloxone Cabinet Initiative this year to have naloxone cabinets installed in 15 towns.


Forty-three cabinets have already been installed in Franklin and Worcester counties, including Greenfield, Montague, Orange and Athol, with grant funding received by the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region. Other organizations like Tapestry Health and the North Quabbin Community Coalition have played significant roles in getting these cabinets installed and maintained across North Quabbin towns.


“There’s been this great push toward understanding- the importance of this as a lifesaving medicine,” FRCOG Health Educator and Epidemiologist Maureen O’Reilly said. “The member boards of health of this health district … decided they also wanted to have cabinets up and got some other grant funding to do that.” FRCOG’s Director of Community Health Phoebe Walker noted that the Opioid Task Force and the Cooperative Public Health Service receive different types of funding from federal and state sources to supply the cabinets, so collaboration is important to understand where naloxone is most needed and what funding is available to remediate the issue. “Public health doesn’t have boundaries, but our day jobs do, so in working toward a lot of these efforts, it does have to be putting together puzzle pieces to achieve that result on the ground,” Walker said about the collaboration.


Debra McLaughlin, coordinator of the Opioid Task Force, said the move for towns to install outdoor cabinets represents an expansion of accessibility to an important tool. “It’s been really exciting to see how this effort has been embraced by our community to make this life-saving medication available, much in the same way that an EpiPen would be available or an [automated external defibrillator] device,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin explained that overdose data is provided to the Opioid Task Force. A spike in overdose deaths occurred in 2021 related to opioids in Franklin County and Athol, and a reduction has been seen in 2022 and 2023 data. This data can help inform the organization’s work. “We contribute [the reduction] to a variety of strategies, not just the blanketing of Narcan everywhere,” McLaughlin said, referring to the common brand name of drug with naloxone as its active ingredient. “Since we started actively pursuing the distribution of Narcan and the naloxone box strategy in the last year and a half, we’ve distributed nearly 3,500 kits in a three-year period.”


Participating boards of health in the Cooperative Public Health Service area, including Monroe, Charlemont and Ashfield, have approved the installation process, with Colrain and Buckland anticipating approval in the coming weeks. On Aug. 21, Bernardston's Selectboard approved outdoor naloxone cabinets to be installed, and Gill approved the installations at a Aug. 12 Selectboard meeting.


Randy Crochier, a member of the Gill Selectboard and a regional health agent with FRCOG, explained that the cabinets are planned to be installed at a local business in Gill and at Town Hall. “Unfortunately, opioids are out there, fentanyl is out there, and you don’t know who’s going to be affected by it,” Crochier said. “This just gives a place where people can discreetly get Narcan to have at their home if they need it without necessarily going through the stigma.”


Information on how to identify an overdose and information on naloxone is available through the Opioid Task Force website at opioidtaskforce.org/get-information. A Zoom information session on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 2 p.m. on public access to naloxone is available for registration here. 


(STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ)

"Vigil Recognizes Lives Lost to Overdose "

Greenfield Recorder (9/4/24)

Nicole St. Hilaire recently lost her father to an opioid overdose.

On Friday, through her role as outreach manager with CONNECT, St. Hilaire passed out free naloxone, a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, in an effort to promote harm reduction practices. CONNECT, which stands for Community Opportunity, Network, Navigation, Exploration and Connection Team, is a regional collaboration of law enforcement, community health centers and outreach organizations created to combat the opioid epidemic in Franklin County. “I felt like it was an important thing for me to do, to come here, and be around people that understand that kind of process,” St. Hilaire said, referring to grieving.


“There was a time when there wasn’t Narcan. People were dying and there was nothing that would help them stay alive. Being able to have that one tool out in the community, that can work now … that can save a life, is as important as any other first aid.” The event was held the day before International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31 and came at a time when overdose fatalities have been unusually high in Greenfield, with eight deaths reported in the past three weeks, according to data collected by The RECOVER Project in Greenfield. Residents gathered in the courtyard labyrinth of the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew for a vigil for those lost to overdose.


Sarah Ahern, a peer recovery coach, spoke about her own experiences with the opioid epidemic. “My family has buried seven of our own,” Ahern said, adding that she lost her younger brother just over a year after the death of her brother’s husband. “I’m tired of burying my people.” Ahern’s mother, Andrea Goldman Butynski, and sister, Rebecca Josie, stood next to her as she spoke, both crying. Josie held a framed photograph of her late brother and his late husband. Ahern added that she identifies as someone in long-term recovery and is herself a survivor of an overdose. “It’s important to hold these grief spaces in the community to smash that stigma, and to show people that our people were more than their disease,” Ahern said. “My brother was more than his disease. He was the biggest light that I’ve ever seen. He came into a room; he lit it up. Every single person that I’ve buried had a story.”


Similar events were held throughout the surrounding area, including in Northampton and Holyoke, on the day prior to International

Overdose Awareness Day. Community members were given purple light bulbs to turn on in a display of solidarity with those lost to overdose. International Overdose Awareness Day precedes National Recovery Month, which spans the month of September.

Mayor Ginny Desorgher also spoke at the vigil, sharing that before she became the mayor of Greenfield, she was an emergency room nurse, where she saw firsthand the effects of the opioid crisis. “I personally have been touched in my lifetime by this tragedy,” Desorgher said, adding that the eight people who died of overdoses in the past three weeks all “touched people’s hearts” and will be “forever loved and remembered.” Desorgher proclaimed Aug. 31 Overdose Awareness Day and spoke about the casualties of the opioid crisis, stating, “I’m just here to be with you, to stand by you as your mayor, to offer a little hope that I’m here with you, that I care, and that I love you, and those that you love.”


Speakers, including Desorgher and Ahern, emphasized a need for harm reduction tools, such as clean needle exchanges and the availability of naloxone (also known by its brand name, Narcan) to prevent further tragedy. “We know, from decades of data, that the war on drugs has failed. It is not an approach that is accepted anymore,” Ahern said. “ And part of overdose awareness is raising awareness of advocacy. The vigil concluded with a ceremony in which community members could share the names of loved ones they had lost to overdoses while Ahern rang a gong once for each name shared.... “This is an opportunity for us to come together and to hold our grief as a community and to spread awareness about how often it happens to everyday people.”


(FOR THE RECORDER/ADA DENENFELD KELLY)

UPCOMING OTF COMMITTEE & WORKGROUP MEETINGS

Virtual: Treatment & Recovery Committee

September 6, 2024

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Zoom details here.


Virtual: Emergency Services for Unhoused Individuals Task Force

September 9, 2024

9:30 AM - 10:45 AM

Zoom details here.


Hybrid: Sexual Exploitation & Trafficking Workgroup

September 9, 2024

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Franklin County Reentry Center

106 Main Street, Greenfield

Zoom details here.


Virtual: Education & Prevention Committee

September 10, 2024

9:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Zoom details here.


Virtual: CAM Workgroup

September 17, 2024

11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Zoom details here.


Virtual: Methadone Workgroup

September 19, 2024

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Zoom details here.


Virtual: Healthcare Solutions Committee

September 20, 2024

10:00 AM - 11:30 Noon

Zoom details here.


Virtual: Harm Reduction Workgroup

October 2, 2024

11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon

Zoom details here.


Hybrid: Public Safety & Justice Committee

October 7, 2024

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Franklin County Reentry Center

106 Main Street, Greenfield

Zoom details here.


Virtual: Housing & Workforce Development Committee

October 11, 2024

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Zoom details here.


Virtual: Building a Resilient Community Workgroup

October 16, 2024

11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Zoom details here.


Consult our website or Facebook Page for updates. Please email us with any questions!

FEATURED EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONNECT: Post-Opioid Overdose Outreach Services

Support & Resources After the HEALing Communities Study

Learn more at HealTogetherMA.org

Time Sensitive Announcements

September 6 Down by the River: Johnny & The Flashbacks

September 6 - 8 Franklin County Fair Events

September 7 Teddy Bear Picnic

September 7 Friends Used Book Sale

September 7 Stone Soup Cafe Menu

Women Healing Women Healing Earth

September 7 - Honoring the Sacred Seed

September 14 - Fall Harvest Fermentation

September 9 Nature Arts & Crafts

September 9 - November 11 Lasting Lifestyles - Monday Sessions

September 10 Senior Services Health & Safety Expo

September 10 Local Authors Talk with Daniel Yalowitz

September 10 Expressive Arts

September 11 National Recovery Month Ice Cream Bar Event at the Franklin County Reentry Center

DEADLINE: September 11 Call for Art for the 4th Annual Special Wrapping Paper Edition of The Montague Reporter

September 11 FC/NQ Healing Communities Study

A Community Meeting to Discuss Study Findings

Please RSVP for this free, in-person event here

September 11- 2024 Popular Pollinators Series -Monarchs with The Hitchcock Center for the Environment

September 11 MassHire Employer Spotlight on

Community Action Pioneer Valley

September 11 Local Authors Talk with Terry McConnell

September 12 Navigating the Massachusetts Courts?

How the Court Services Centers Can Help!

You can register for this free event here.

September 12 Know Your Rights

September 12 Stephen King Book Discussion

September 12 & September 19 Bilingual Music & Movement

September 13 Story Time

September 13 Game Night at Sunderland Public Library

September 16 Information Session

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Greenfield Public Library

Regarding Affordable Homeownership Opportunity at 68 Solar Way, Greenfield

September 17 Turners Falls Information Session

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Brick House Community Resource Center

Regarding Affordable Homeownership Opportunity at 42 Cleveland St, Greenfield


September 18 Salasin Project's Open House

September 18 - December 11 Wednesday Nurturing Fathers Group

September 19 Overdose Response & Narcan Training Please Register here.

September 19 Active Parenting of Teens - 6 Weekly Sessions (Thursdays)

September 20 Navigating the Joys and Challenges of Kinship Caregiving Part 2

September 20 Recovery Celebration

September 21 Mushroom Foraging

September 24 Oh Poop! Let's Tackle Toileting Together!

September 26 Narcan as First Aid: Accessing Narcan in Public Spaces

You can register for this event here

September 26 Family Crafts and Story Hour

September 26 MOAR and Friends 34th Recovery Month Celebration Day

September 27 Homeschool Hangout

September 28 Montague Community Fair

**Call for Vendors* for the September 28 Fall Fest in Erving

September 28 - 29 North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival

September 30 4 Ways A Hand Therapist Can Benefit Your Life

MONTHLY WORKSHOP CALENDRS AND WEEKLY STANDING MEETINGS/EVENTS

September at The Art Garden

September Community Action Family Center Calendar

September Events at the Erving Senior Center

September Programs at Franklin County Reentry Center

September Programs - Great Falls Discovery Center

September Montague Public Library Programs

September Union 28 Community Network for Children Program Calendar

2024 Seeds of Solidarity Calendar of Events

SNAP Application Assistance
Always Open! Community Labyrinth in Greenfield

What's Happening at The NQRC

RECOVER Project Groups At a Glance
Weekdays All Recovery Meeting at
The RECOVER Project

Mondays Mini & Me Yoga

September 9 - September 30

Mondays Functional Training Fitness Class for Adults September 9 - October 28

Monday/Wednesday/Friday

The Community Closet at The Franklin County Reentry Center

Monday - Friday
Movement Group with North Quabbin Recovery Center Peer Leaders
Mondays North Quabbin Patch Parents' Council

Mondays Breaking Barriers at the Franklin County Reentry Center

Mondays Art Guild Meetings

Mondays Advanced Manufacturing Info Sessions

Monday Drug Court Alumni Group - North Quabbin

Mondays Community Yoga at Wildflower Alliance

Mondays at FCSO Reentry Center - Recovery Through Creativity

Mondays CNC Playgroup at the Erving Public Library

Second Mondays of the Month - North Quabbin B.R.A.V.E. Task Force Meetings

Mondays Alternatives to Suicide Group
2nd and 4th Mondays
Parenting Together at the Brick House

Third Monday Alphabet & Allies

Third Monday Parenting With Pride

Mondays and Thursdays

Hygiene Supplies Pick Up at the Brick House

Mondays (10am - 1pm) and Thursdays (9am - noon)

The Brick House Food Pantry

Tuesdays Introduction to Genealogical Research September 10 - October 15

Tuesdays Healing Trauma

September 10 - October 29

Tuesdays Nurturing Program for Families in Recovery

Tuesdays Peer-Led Grief and Loss Circle

Every Other Tuesday - Housing Support Drop In Hours

First Tuesday - Dads' Group at Valuing Our Children

Tuesday Tea Time & Community Resource Drop-In

Tuesdays North Quabbin Recovery Center Coffee Hour

Tuesdays Greenfield Suicide Loss Group

First Tuesday - P.A.R.T. Task Force

Tuesdays Drop-In Knitting & Sewing Sessions

2nd Tuesdays New Member Orientation at the RECOVER Project

Tuesday & Thursdays Weekly Reentry Groups

Tuesday Men's Anger Management Group

Wednesday Women's Anger Management Group

Wednesdays Women's Writing Group

 September 11 - October 30

Wednesdays - Wendell Library Playgroup with Sylvia

Wednesdays - Playgroup at the Leverett Library with Gillian

Wednesdays HEROES Study Hub at GCC

Gentle Yoga and Breathwork with Jennifer

First Wednesday of the month

Whatever Wednesday's on the

Second Wednesday of every month

Free Food - Every Third Wednesday

Office Hours With An Attorney

Last Wednesdays of Every month

First & Third Thursdays Parent Support Group

Thursdays Dungeons and Dragons

Thursdays Mens Group in the RPX

Thursdays Coffee Hour at the Brick House
Thursdays Beyond Trauma Group in Spanish

Second Thursdays -Peer Grief Support After Overdose Death

Fridays FreeWrite of Franklin County

Friday Writing Group at the RP

First Friday of Every Month: Open Mic at the RP

Every Friday - The Garden Path

MassHealth Navigation Support

First Friday of each month 9am-12pm

Third Friday of each month 1pm - 3pm

Every First & Third Friday Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Group

Every Second Friday Chosen Family Night

Every Third Friday: Karaoke at The RECOVER Project

Last Friday of the Month: Gardening in Recovery

Recovery Coach Supervisor Position at the RP

Recovery Coach Positions at the RP

Re-entry Workforce Program

Homeshare Program with LifePath

Pathways to Advanced Manufacturing

Specialized HVAC Training

Specialized Information Technology Training

SafeSpot Virtual Overdose Spotting Hotline

CHCFC OBAT Same Day & Tele-Health Appointment Information
Free English Classes
Free Meals and Essentials
Saints James and Andrews Parish Hall
Come Cook with Franklin County
Community Meals Program
Family Self-Sufficiency Program Available
Eviction Self-Help Booklets Available in Multiple Languages

MLRI has recently updated and translated some of our self-help booklets for unrepresented tenants facing eviction. While we still recommend tenants facing eviction seek legal help, we know resources are limited and many tenants have to represent themselves. We hope these booklets can be helpful to pro se tenants and their advocates.

You can see the full list of booklets below, or at MassLegalHelp. The booklets can help tenants prepare for court, outline their legal claims, and file court forms. There is also a booklet to help public housing tenants navigate the Grievance process.

Please reach out if you have any questions about the booklets and how they can be used.

What steps to take before going to court and what to bring to court.

An easy-to-use checklist that tells you what conditions violate the State Sanitary Code. You can also use the free self-help guided interview, MADE: Up To Code.

The Answer is a court form that tenants facing evictions can file with the court to outline your legal claims and tell the court your side of the story. You can also use Greater Boston Legal Services’ free self-help guided interview, MADE

How to ask the court to accept your Answer and Discovery forms late.  You can also use Greater Boston Legal Services’ free self-help guided interview, MADE.

A form with instructions for tenants facing eviction to get information to prepare for their trial.

A form with instructions for tenants in foreclosed properties to get information to prepare their case. 

A form you can file to transfer your eviction case from a District Court to a Housing Court.

How to get a new court date if you missed your court date.

If you lost your eviction trial and think you have a good case, you may appeal. This document tells you which Appeal form to use.

How to file an appeal from a case in Housing Court.

How to file an appeal from a case in District Court.

How to get time to stay in your home if you lost your case.

How to ask the court to pay for court costs. 

How to think through the terms you want in an agreement. Includes a worksheet and stipulation forms to use when you go to court. Read this booklet as webpages and watch the videos!

How to correct errors on your online court records. The Booklet includes the court form you can save to your computer, fill out, save again and print when ready.

A booklet for tenants in Mass. about the grievance process, including worksheets to help you prepare for a grievance hearing.

Update! Greenfield CSC New Hybrid Operations Change
The Greenfield Court Service Center is located at 43 Hope St., 1st Floor, Greenfield, MA.

They offer in-person services on Tuesdays & Thursdays, ONLY, from 8:30 am-1 pm, and 2 pm-4 pm. Remote services (email, phone, Zoom) are available on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays.

For an intake, contact the Virtual Court Service Center, Mon. thru Fri. 9 am-12 pm by telephone: 1-646-828-7666, press #, #, then enter meeting ID: 161 526 1140 or by video: www.zoomgov.com/j/1615261140.

COMMUNITY JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region www.opioidtaskforce.org
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