“Calm down!”. “Take a deep breath”. “Stop worrying about it”. These are things we hear when we are feeling anxious and for most people are not helpful and do not work. Occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. For teens, there’s a lot of change happening in and around you, and that can mean a lot to worry about! Some anxiety keeps us motivated, however, people with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive, and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. And these feelings of anxiety and panic interfere with daily activities and are difficult to control. Why is this and what can be done about it? In this episode of “Not Now, Maybe Later”, anxiety is explored from genetics and chemistry, to types like perfectionism and phobias. Listen in and you will hear some ways to reduce anxiety so you can find a new idea or two to keep your worrying under control.

As part of its Serve with Liberty community service program, Liberty Mutual employees volunteered in Saco on May 4th. Forced indoors due to inclement weather, the crew cleaned worked with Sweetser’s Facilities crew and Volunteer Team to clean out the basement of the Merrill Center on the Saco Campus. 

House Speaker Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross visited our Saco special purpose school on April 30 to talk about our behavioral health system and what the legislature can do to tackle the many challenges we face in providing needed services.

Sweetser was one of the stops on the Speaker’s listening tour across the state. Her leadership on these topics is greatly appreciated. Shout out to our local delegation members Rep. Lynn Copeland, Maine House Dist. 130 and Representative Marc Malon for also being part of this special day.

 The team at KeyBank, a longtime partner and supporter of Sweetser, helped beautify the outside of our adult crisis building on our Saco campus. They did a wonderful job working alongside our facilities team to rake, take away brush and branches, and landscape the front of the building. We can’t thank them enough for all their efforts!

Sweetser’s Zero Suicide Committee organized a team to participate in the University of New England’s Walk to Fight Suicide, an event from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The following staff members participated: Wendi Dubois, Holly Hall and her son, Carol Mundigler and her son, Cheryl Cook, Deb Higgins, Heath Seeley, Jenn Garcia, and Jennifer Ridolfi.

During National Volunteer Month, IDEXX employees volunteered on our Saco school to help beautify the campus.

We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without all our amazing volunteers and corporate groups that help support our mission. We appreciate all you do for us!

Thank you, IDDEXX!

Check out the latest edition of Journey Magazine where our staff member Tom MacElhaney, who works as Cumberland County’s OPTIONS Liaison, talks about how he helps Mainers on their road to recovery.

READ ARTICLE HERE

Our annual Learning Arts Fair on our Saco school campus is always a big hit with students and staff alike. It’s an opportunity to explore additional creative outlets and this year was no exception. Students experienced painting, tattooing, creating charcuterie boards, night photography, horticulture planting and more!

Thank you to the following artists for participating and working with our students:

Nibblesford Cheese Shop

Scott Bruns Boko Maru Tattoo Shop

Drew Fortin Photography

Emma Birtolo Print Making

Musician Mike Corletta

Bob Tkacik of Maine Line Exotics

Thank you to our event sponsor:

Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution

A TV ad featuring Nickie Murray, one of Sweetser’s many independent affiliate providers across the state providing care to clients. The spot has been running on Newscenter Maine and WMTW.

If you are a social worker, therapist, or mental health professional who wants to start a private practice, reach out to Jan at jdubois@sweetser.org or by calling 207-294-4477. Sweetser’s Affiliate Network can help with billing, client documentation, quality assurance, referrals, and more. We take the administrative stress away from their true passion of helping our clients. Learn more https://www.sweetser.org/affiliatenetwork.

Watch our maple syrup adventures from our Saco school campus on this episode of MaineLife Media’s Maine Food Story that aired on Newscenter Maine. Their TV crew shadowed a group of our students in demonstrating our experiential learning program.

In the episode the following students were featured:

Thomas
Selena
Sean
Shandi

Shout out to our rockstar Educator & Farm Manager Julia Birtolo for being featured in the piece and her help with coordination. Our Communications Director Justin Chenette stepped in as a guest host for the program.