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Maine Points: Sweetser · Newsradio WGAN

0:00
And welcome to Main Point. It's Danny Martinetti, heard
0:02
across all the stations each and every Sunday morning.
0:06
And it's a special Sunday. Mother's Day is in effect.
0:10
So I want to wish everyone, those that are to be those that
0:14
have passed, including my Mama, Giovanna, happy Mother's Day and
0:18
really take care of mom today. Every day you should be taking
0:22
care of mum and May is also an important aspect in the state of
0:28
Maine and just national. It's May is mental health
0:32
awareness month and I wanted to bring on a good friend of main
0:37
points, Justin Chenette. He is a senior director of
0:40
public relations and advancement, which sweets her to
0:44
really go over the importance of this month.
0:46
But every day should be a mental awareness day.
0:50
Justin, thank you so much for joining me here.
0:53
How are you doing? Good to see you, Danny, or good
0:56
to hear you. I, I know, so we, we were
0:58
talking behind the scenes and I don't have a video.
1:01
We're on teams and he has a video, I have the audio.
1:05
So he gets to see me and I get to hear him and the whole
1:08
audience gets to hear this. Informative main points and
1:12
always good to, to have you on and where I set it up.
1:16
You know, May mental health awareness month and I had you on
1:21
last and previous months. The numbers keep climbing.
1:25
I mean, on average we're looking at 223,000 adults in Maine have
1:30
a mental health condition. You know, 36% of Maine's roughly
1:34
55,000 high school students, that's almost 20,000 reported
1:40
feeling sad or hopeless. And there is hope there is
1:45
advancement in the mental health and how we're approaching it and
1:49
Justin's going to really give us an update on that.
1:53
For those that are not familiar with sweets are by all means
1:57
tell us about that and just the importance that sweets are has
2:01
been doing. Well, Main Mental Health
2:03
Awareness Month is a perfect opportunity.
2:05
To talk about. This, you know, we envision a
2:07
world where mental health stigma is eliminated and access to
2:11
treatment and recovery is possible for all.
2:14
That's a a high bar, but we, we do that on a number of different
2:18
fronts. We served over 12,000 main
2:21
children and adults last year alone.
2:24
It really speaks to the need across our state and, and, and
2:28
quite frankly, sweepsters reach, you know, we have things like
2:31
our walk in clinics, we call hope and healing centers located
2:36
in Brunswick, Lewiston and Sanford.
2:38
That's an example of coming in right off the street same day,
2:42
getting access to mental health support, which in the past has
2:45
been unheard of, right. So, you know, you spoke a lot
2:48
about the data points. You know, there are real people
2:51
behind those data points. And the reality is, access to
2:55
treatment and support can sometimes be a barrier, and
2:58
we're all about breaking down on those barriers, trying to
3:02
connect people to the treatment and the support that they
3:04
deserve. Yeah, and it's trying to meet
3:06
them where they are. And the approach has always been
3:11
would Switcher to, you know, expand to bring the need into
3:17
your community. And I encourage everyone to
3:20
first and foremost go online. You can go switzer.org.
3:25
But where it is mental Health Awareness Month, the crisis line
3:30
is always available. I've had to use it.
3:33
You know, don't be ashamed if you have to use it for a friend
3:36
or for a loved one for that matter of a crisis because we
3:39
all experience that sometime during our life.
3:43
Text or call 988. And in Maine, it connects you
3:46
with trained crisis counselors and if needed, local crisis
3:51
response teams from organizations just like Sweeter
3:55
and expanding as I just preluded to the opening up the Support Me
4:00
Peer Center in Brunswick, this is a deal breaker.
4:04
This is great talk about the peer center and the
4:08
groundbreaking open in there and and how we're able to now help
4:12
those in the Brunswick area. I'm so excited about this
4:16
because there's not many things in life that are free, and
4:18
particularly when it comes to accessing mental health support,
4:22
that can sometimes be a financial barrier.
4:24
And so the Support Me Peer Center is a free community
4:28
resource, not just for Brunswick, but the wider area.
4:32
It also serves the counties of Saganahawk, Knox, Waldo and
4:35
Lincoln. But you can walk in off the
4:37
street and get connected to individuals who have lived
4:41
experience with either a mental health or challenge.
4:45
So these are individuals that are trained to have sort of
4:48
mutual connection and community. And so this center is really for
4:53
the community. And so the purpose of the center
4:55
is to create that welcoming, judgment free space where people
4:59
can just share, they can connect, they can support one
5:02
another in all stages of their recovery journey.
5:05
We find when you are surrounded by like minded people,
5:09
individuals that have been there, done that are also
5:12
struggling, that sort of mutual connection can foster better
5:16
outcomes. And so this is not necessarily,
5:19
you know, a replacement for clinical treatment, but it can
5:23
aid in your recovery journey by creating a sense of belonging.
5:27
And so we do that through like daily peer run groups, life
5:31
skills workshops, one-on-one support.
5:34
And again, the staff are really trained to have these
5:38
conversations and to meld their own personal experiences with
5:42
mental health or substance use with that training to be able to
5:46
aid in those that are coming through the door.
5:47
And the location is right on 329 Bath Road in Brunswick.
5:52
It's switchers Hope and Healing Center.
5:54
And you just heard Justin say that it is free.
5:57
They're open Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30.
6:01
If you want to give them a call and reach out 373-3005.
6:07
But I encourage you to go online because you're able to see all
6:10
of the information, some of the peers, the team years that are
6:14
really making this happen. And it's a safe space for
6:18
everyone. The workshops, you just need
6:21
that extra one-on-one support and it's like minded individuals
6:26
there a judgement free zone where where you can continue to
6:29
do this. And I know through the years
6:31
that I've been speaking with sweet Sir, this is kind of the
6:35
innovation. This is what you have been
6:37
trying to do for years to come. And opening up one of the hope
6:41
and healing centers is huge for that location in rural Maine.
6:47
Talk about, you know, someone that is kind of going through
6:51
something right now, you know, having that life experience.
6:55
There's no shame in mental health and where it is.
6:59
Mental health awareness month, Justin, I want you to explain to
7:02
the listeners that there really isn't any shame.
7:04
It's the brave work is accepting it and just reaching out because
7:09
you're not alone. No matter what someone says,
7:12
you're alone. You're not, because there's a
7:14
huge support system out there at their fingertips, Justin.
7:19
Absolutely. And you know, sometimes even
7:21
just not knowing what you need can feel like a barrier to
7:24
starting the process, right. It's like you, if you know you
7:27
need help in some way, you don't have to know all the acronyms,
7:32
you don't have to know all the programs.
7:34
You don't. You just need to know if if
7:36
you're ready to start that journey with folks that care
7:39
about you and have your best interest in mind, like it's
7:43
about starting that. And and that journey could start
7:47
with a call, but sometimes even calling and feel anxiety
7:50
provoking, right? And so that's why texting is an
7:54
option, right? You had mentioned the 988
7:56
number. You can text that you don't have
7:58
to call it. So if you feel like calling
8:00
gives you anxiety, text that, you know, our hope and healing
8:04
centers are great because you can just walk in.
8:06
You don't have to schedule an appointment, right?
8:08
Because even that can feel like a barrier, right, Walking off
8:11
the street. We have a whole team, we call it
8:13
the Access team, but they're really, they're really heroes in
8:16
my mind because they really, they, they take you where you're
8:20
at and say, let's find something for you that fits you, fits you
8:24
where you're at in your life and, and fits treatment and
8:28
support around all the things that are going on in our lives,
8:31
right? We're all busy, even folks that
8:32
are going through or want to go through recovery with either for
8:36
a mental health challenge or substance use disorder.
8:39
And so how can treatment fit into their life?
8:42
Well, we have a team that'll work with you.
8:44
We'll find the placement, we'll find the, the, the right fit for
8:47
you based on where you're at in that moment.
8:50
It's about tailoring the treatment and the experience to
8:53
fit you in your life. That's what that team does.
8:56
And so I just love the work that our access team does every
9:00
single day. And so they're the team that can
9:02
support you in this journey and give you care coordination.
9:06
Nicely said, Switzer is my guest this morning.
9:09
That is Justin Jeanette with Switzer and I'm going to
9:13
piggyback and come back from break because there's also a
9:16
great substance use intensive outpatient program there as well
9:20
that I want to cover. Danny Martin, Idio host here on
9:23
main points, really recognizing those that are are going through
9:28
mental health. You're not alone.
9:30
If you need to call the Promise line to reach out 800-4343 8000
9:37
and if you're in a crisis right now, text or call 988.
9:42
More of the conversation. We come back on main points.
9:48
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10:45
Switzer's Justin. Jeanette here for mental.
10:47
Health Awareness month text. Or call 988 to reach.
10:50
Confidential judgement free. Emotional support 24798. 8 is
10:55
the mental health version of 911 for.
10:58
Rapid mobile crisis intervention Switzer is the largest provider
11:02
of mobile crisis services, meaning we come to.
11:05
You We envision a world where mental health stigma is
11:07
eliminated. And access to.
11:09
Treatment and recovery is. Possible for all.
11:12
Text or call 988. You are not alone.
11:14
Sweetser. There are more than 29,000
11:17
Mainers living with Alzheimer's and over 51,000 caregivers who
11:21
dedicate millions of hours of unpaid care.
11:24
Your local Main chapter of the Alzheimer's Association is
11:27
working hard toward the ultimate goal, a cure, by sponsoring A
11:31
Veteran's Wreath through their Wreaths Across America.
11:33
Page $5.00 of every sponsored wreath will be donated back to
11:37
help support Mainers living with or caring for someone with
11:40
Alzheimer's. Donate today by visiting
11:42
wreathsacrossamerica.org/AL. The 46th annual Bonnie Eagle car
11:49
show is Sunday, May 17th. See over 30 different classes of
11:53
vehicles from Model A's to Muscle cars.
11:55
Gates open at 8:00 AM for the public and 6:00 AM for show cars
11:58
and their drivers, $15 gets you and your car in and $5 gets you
12:03
in to see all the cars. See you at Bonnie Eagle High
12:06
School in Buxton to enjoy food trucks, vendors and cars from
12:09
all eras. Don't miss the 46th annual
12:12
Bonnie Eagle Car Show, Sunday, May 7th.
12:16
Danny Martinetti. Over at Main Points, and if you
12:19
missed this episode, you can listen to Main Points on Demand.
12:22
Listen to thepodcastpage@mainpoints.org.
12:26
That's main points dot. ORG.
12:29
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That's children's dyslexiacenters.org.
13:30
Item Welcome back to main points good morning to you happy
13:33
Mother's Day to those mothers to be mothers that are in the
13:38
process of dealing with the children and of course those the
13:42
mothers that we've lost recognize my mom, Mama Martin
13:46
Eddie MI Amore, my love, miss in love Mother's Day today and also
13:53
an important day and an important month for that matter
13:56
it it's mental health awareness month and wherever you are we're
14:01
speaking with sweet Sir, a very timely conversation and we were
14:06
just discussing the breakthrough that is undergoing here and the
14:10
support me peer center in Brunswick where we just went
14:14
over also has a new substance use disorder program there.
14:21
Let's talk about this because you'd mentioned it's tailored if
14:25
someone may have mental health in this case if someone has a
14:29
new substance use disorder talk about and it's called the IOP
14:34
program that's there in in Brunswick.
14:38
And we talked a lot about different acronyms, but IOP
14:41
stands for Intensive Outpatient program.
14:43
It's a fancy way to say this is a program that can fit around
14:47
your busy life, right? Folks that have substance use
14:50
disorders are also busy parents. They're busy potentially working
14:55
a daily job. They're they're doing other
14:58
things in life. They might be going to school.
15:00
So it's really important that there are programs available to
15:04
go through the treatment journey where it can wrap around all
15:08
those daily life responsibilities.
15:10
That's what this program is all about.
15:11
So it's really structured with sessions that are delivered in
15:15
three hour blocks, three days a week, a total of 6 weeks.
15:18
So it's, it's very intensive for that short amount of time, but
15:21
we find is what's really, really helpful is this is through
15:24
really individual and group therapy sessions.
15:28
So again, creating that sense of community and connection is
15:32
really important. Other individuals that are going
15:35
through something like you so that you know that you are not
15:39
alone in this journey. It's so important to share those
15:42
mutual experiences and challenges with folks like
15:47
yourself, fellow peers. And I think that's really a
15:50
crucial part of the recovery process.
15:53
And this is particularly beneficial for those who may not
15:56
require like an inpatient level of care or a medical or
16:00
environmental concerns around like living at home.
16:04
So this is around not having necessarily to go to and live at
16:09
a facility. You can just do this treatment
16:12
alongside your daily responsibility.
16:14
So anyone 18 or over can participate in this.
16:17
And again, as you mentioned, it's at our Brunswick Hope and
16:20
Healing Center. It's attached to our peers
16:22
center. We have a full service pharmacy
16:24
there. It's one stop shopping.
16:25
So I think this is a good entry point for those that might need
16:29
substance use disorder treatment and then you can get access to
16:32
the broader range and comprehensive range of various
16:35
mental health services and peer support.
16:37
Yeah, and find out really all the information,
16:39
sweetser.org/peer Center, and we're talking about the Hope
16:45
Center here. They're open Monday through
16:48
Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM on 3/29 Path Rd. in Brunswick.
16:54
And you know, just to be able to tailor that is important.
16:58
And, and thank you for going over all the criteria and it's
17:01
at your fingertips that you can see for yourself and, and with
17:06
getting the treatment. Are people getting the substance
17:10
use treatment they need, or are you finding that it's still a
17:14
stigma? I think this is really
17:17
staggering. According to the federal
17:19
government, According to SAMSA, nearly 17 percent, 48 million
17:25
people had a substance use disorder in the past year, but
17:30
only one out of five of those people who needed treatment
17:34
actually received it. That's that that means a
17:37
majority of people who have substance use disorder are not
17:41
getting the help and the support that they need.
17:43
That's just staggering to me and I think speaks to a number of
17:48
different fronts. One, there's still a stigma
17:51
attached to not just mental illness, but substance use
17:54
disorder, and particularly stigma attached to seeking out
17:58
help, admitting that there is an issue and then taking action
18:02
afterwards and having the right supportive community around you
18:06
and organizations to wrap around services.
18:09
So access to care can also be a factor.
18:12
And This is why having our substance use IOP out of
18:15
Brunswick. This is why having our free peer
18:18
support centers important, because maybe your entry point
18:21
into getting help is a free visit to the peer support
18:27
center. It's knowing that there's other
18:28
people like you. It might be a free call to our
18:32
free peer support line, which is a 24/7 hotline that's staffed,
18:38
again, with people with lived experience who are not going to
18:41
judge you. Who's going to be understanding
18:44
of where you're at in this moment in your life and is going
18:48
to just be there to listen to you, right.
18:50
That might be your entry point to then getting the clinical
18:54
support that you need. Yeah, and that's all.
18:57
Everyone is shaped and and differently on how they process
19:01
things mentally and if you don't maybe don't like large crowds,
19:05
you don't want to do that. You know.
19:07
Pick up the phone and have that conversation with someone or
19:10
text and sweetser will meet you with those needs.
19:14
But by all means, do not go with it and say I'm going to get
19:18
through this. I got this other day.
19:19
We've seen the news articles, We've seen the recent news
19:22
events about, you know, the killing of innocent people and
19:27
mental health seems to be the core of it.
19:30
It's preventing anything like this forever happening.
19:35
And we're seeing it increase, not just in Maine, across the
19:38
United States, across the world. And getting it locally here is
19:43
what's important. We want to take care of our
19:45
Mainers. We want to take care of you.
19:48
You've lived in Maine and you've maybe lived in Lewiston and you
19:53
live there for over 40 years, for example.
19:57
A lot of influence is coming there.
19:59
Justin, where I'm going with this Sweetser in Lewiston, I
20:03
want to go over to look at Lewiston.
20:06
It's become the largest certified community behavioral
20:10
health clinic and that's another acronym, CCBHC and it's.
20:15
After Lewiston based common ties mental health services recently
20:20
merged mouthful there lot to unpack talk about this and and
20:25
and really the need and how we're able to bring more help
20:27
now to the Lewiston area. Absolutely.
20:30
Well, we stepped up when the Lewiston community needed us
20:34
most and we opened the Hope and Healing Center there, a walk in
20:39
care clinic. Again, that speaks to this walk
20:42
in care model, which again, that fancy acronym is CCBHC.
20:45
You don't have to remember that acronym.
20:47
All you have to remember is walk in care for your mental health,
20:50
right? And so the Hope and Healing
20:51
Center has really a blossomed there.
20:54
It's really, again, Lewiston is an underserved area.
20:57
There's a lot of mental health need.
20:59
And so we're seeing daily walk insurance people come in and off
21:02
the street at our location at 20 Mollison Way, right next to just
21:06
in time recreation. And so we're excited the fact
21:09
that common ties mental health who as you mentioned have been
21:12
around for nearly 40 years has merged into the sweets or
21:16
family. So there's 300 plus clients of
21:19
theirs that are now sweets or clients.
21:21
There's some 15 staff members that have joined the Suitzer
21:25
team. And so that really strengthens
21:27
our operations at our Hope and Healing Center, meaning we can
21:30
serve more people. More people are being served.
21:34
That matters. It matters to reducing barriers
21:38
to accessing care, and it also matters to the legacy that we're
21:42
leaving behind where we're in a moment where it's just hard to
21:46
be a behavioral Health Organization, let alone a small
21:49
1. And so it really makes a lot of
21:51
sense to have this smaller organization really team up with
21:55
a much larger provider like Sweetser to be able to continue
21:59
serving people. That's the most important that
22:01
there's no disruption of care. And that peers support line 24/7
22:05
from anywhere in Maine is 866-771-9276.
22:11
So 866771 warm, WARM and it's toll free anywhere in Maine 24
22:20
hours a day, seven days a week. And offering those mutual
22:24
conversations with that trained peer specialist who has those
22:28
life experiences with mental health recovery.
22:32
So you're dealing with someone that may be on the same page on
22:35
what's going on in your mind and being able to to give you the
22:40
help that you need. Looking at this, you know, what
22:43
does this really say about the state of behavioral health
22:47
system in general in Maine and and really talk about how sweets
22:51
are you just gave a great example is stepping in and
22:55
helping those. Well, I, I think it, it speaks
22:59
to the fact that there's, there's so much uncertainty.
23:02
There's so much uncertainty coming out of Washington in in
23:06
many cases and and state funding can continue to be a challenge.
23:11
There's also a competition for a shrinking behavioral health
23:13
workforce. It's hard to be in this
23:16
business, quite frankly, in this field.
23:18
And So what we find is the individuals that are, you know,
23:21
doing this work really want to be there.
23:23
They really care about the work. They're clearly not in it for
23:26
the money. It doesn't, it doesn't always
23:28
pay the best, but they do it every single day because they
23:31
know they're making a difference in people's lives.
23:34
And in some cases and in many cases, they're saving lives.
23:37
And, and I think that the fact that you can go home every
23:41
single night, you can go to bed knowing that you made that kind
23:44
of difference is very impactful. So there's a lot of purpose
23:47
driven people in behavioral help, but it's hard for smaller
23:51
organizations right in this present moment.
23:53
There's just not knowing what comes next, not knowing if
23:57
funding is going to be available and being reliant on, you know,
24:01
state or federal grants just to keep the doors open for people
24:05
that need treatment. It can be a challenge.
24:07
So, you know, larger organizations have a little bit
24:10
more flexibility to weather, you know, some financial headwinds
24:13
and and some of that uncertainty.
24:14
And so that's why, you know, organizations like Commentize
24:17
identified suites are as really a good provider to, to step up
24:20
with and to to merge with. But I think you're going to
24:23
start seeing other smaller behavioral health organizations
24:26
make a similar decision just because we have we're in this
24:30
together. You know, we're a small state
24:32
and we all have to band together to make sure Mainers of all ages
24:36
get the access to the treatment and the care that they need.
24:39
And it starts with that conversation really go online
24:42
from, you know, you can call the crisis line, peer support line,
24:45
find a therapist, mental health training.
24:48
And if you're an adult, there's children and families peer.
24:53
Their services, the training institute and most importantly,
24:56
their 501-C3 nonprofit supporting the needs of Switzer
25:02
helps this organization continue for many years to come.
25:07
You know, the vision on how this was all started, the philosophy,
25:11
the background, the story of Switzer, It really goes back to
25:15
the 1960s. And that's when, you know,
25:18
Sweeters children's home, you know, was set up and and from
25:22
there it evolved. It evolved and it customized.
25:25
And Justin, as you stated here this morning, we were able to go
25:28
over some of the new groundbreaking programs that are
25:32
now in Brunswick and the counties out there were the need
25:36
is now along with the whole state of Maine as we wrap up
25:41
main points. Thank you.
25:42
We've unpacked a lot of information.
25:44
The podcast is going to be available, but all the links
25:49
will be there. sweetser.org. That's sweetser.org and the
25:57
Promise Line 804, three, four, 3000 and don't forget 98824
26:05
hours a day, no matter what time it is.
26:07
This is airing AT5530 in the morning.
26:09
Doesn't matter. Someone is there for you.
26:13
And as we wrap up this main points, maybe speak to the
26:17
listeners and give someone that may be going through a struggle,
26:21
what would you say to them that may be listening and saying I'm
26:24
going through that right now? We hear you, we see you and we
26:29
value you. Hope is available, recovery is
26:33
possible and Sweetser can be with you every step of that
26:37
journey. Thank you so much, Justin.
26:40
Jeanette with sweets are joining me here to really go over mental
26:44
health Awareness month and all that they're doing many
26:48
conversations that we have and main points.
26:50
Justin really appreciate it. You came on board there about
26:53
two years ago and more than that and making an impact, you are
26:58
really making an impact and all the events, all the media
27:01
exposure because the more exposure we can get out there,
27:04
the positive exposure in this, the more that sweets are can
27:08
help those. And that's the important message
27:11
that I want to take away here on Main Point.
27:13
So thank you so much for what you're doing and have a great
27:16
morning. Thank you, Danny.
27:20
And this has been Main Points right across all the stations
27:22
here at Portland Media Group. I'll join you next Sunday
27:25
morning. That's gotten Maine talking and
27:29
really getting you to the conversation, a healthy
27:32
conversation, of course, about you, about Maine and about each
27:35
other. And Danny Martinetti, your host
27:38
here each and every Sunday morning.
27:41
Reach out to mainpoints@mainpoints.org.
27:44
That's main points.org. See you next Sunday.