Sweetser has expanded its participation in the OPTIONS (Overdose Prevention Through Intensive Outreach, Naloxone, and Safety) initiative, adding two counties—Somerset and Kennebec—to the list of those we serve.

OPTIONS, which is a partnership with the Maine Office of Behavioral Health, aims to improve the health of Mainers who use substances by using harm reduction strategies, supporting recovery, and providing referrals for services.

Sweetser already has licensed behavioral health clinicians in York, Cumberland, Lincoln, Knox, Waldo, and Sagadahoc counties who work with law enforcement agencies, emergency services, and community partners to engage in post-overdose follow-up, help with referrals, offer community outreach, provide short-term counseling interventions, and distribute Naloxone.

“We look forward to serving these areas and learning more about the communities,” said Alyssa Pelchat, Director of Crisis Services. “There is no shortage of work to be done, and we feel confident that we can replicate the successes we have found in other locations in ways unique to these regions.”

For more information: https://www.sweetser.org/programs-services/services-for-adults/crisis-services/options-initiative-at-sweetser/

Kennebunk Savings President Bradford C. Paige (left) presents a check to Sweetser President & CEO Jayne Van Bramer

Kennebunk Savings is supporting access to mental health services for families in need, in partnership with Sweetser, a statewide community mental health nonprofit. The bank’s $10,000 grant will help pay for a variety of services for uninsured or underinsured families in the area, including school and primary care-based therapy support, mobile suicide prevention services, and residential care.

“Kennebunk Savings will support some of the most vulnerable individuals throughout the communities served by both our organizations as they receive help through their darkest and scariest moments,” said Kelly Thayer, Director of Development at Sweetser. “This funding will assist in removing barriers for Maine families, allowing access to mental healthcare for a brighter, more promising future.”

Since 1828, Sweetser has been serving Maine with a statewide network of care. With trained clinicians located in over 25 school districts and over a dozen primary care offices from Kittery to Bangor and hundreds of affiliate therapists positioned across the state, support is within reach for many who need it. The organization also manages residential care facilities for children and adults who need more intensive treatment, and their Mobile Crisis Intervention Specialists respond to crisis calls from families, teachers, police officers, and others in the community asking for immediate help with a person in crisis. Sweetser responds to these calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is the largest provider of mobile crisis services in the state.

“Each year, Sweetser provides hundreds of hours of mental and behavioral health services to children and families in Maine who cannot afford to pay for them,” explained Bradford C. Paige, President and CEO of Kennebunk Savings. “We feel strongly that this is an important area of need and one in which local businesses like ours can step up and play a key role.  By helping to fill the funding gap, we can increase accessibility to care and ensure no one has to choose to forgo the treatment and services that they need and deserve.”

Our very own Dr. Marc Kaplan was interviewed by Newscenter Maine as part of their newscast devoted entirely to suicide prevention stories. Here we discuss the impact that isolation has on the mental health of our seniors and what resources are available so seniors feel more connected including the important work of organizations like our friends at Age Friendly Saco.

Sweetser recently hosted a number of Saco area legislators and soon-to-be legislators at our Saco Special Purpose School. We appreciate Senator Donna Bailey, Representative Lynn Copeland, Representative Maggie O’Neil, Hon. Drew Gattine, and Marc Malon for a great discussion around the state of behavioral health and a tour of our campus. We appreciate their passion for service and interest in our shared mission of providing help and hope to more of their constituents. Our students even whipped up some delicious goodies for them as part of our culinary experiential learning program.

On September 21^st, Sweetser’s Saco Campus held its annual Ruel Ricker Day Fair. The event honors Sweetser’s first farm manager, Ruel Ricker, who held the position from 1941 through the 1970s, and is the namesake for Ricker Farm. The fair gives kids at the Saco School a chance to play games, win prizes and enjoy a BBQ. Sweetser staff and board members volunteered at the event, running games, giving out prizes, and much more.

What a night at our 30th Annual Sold on Kids Auction held at River Winds Farm in Saco! Here are some highlights of our largest fundraiser of the year.

We appreciate the generosity and support of all the attendees, ticketholders, online bidders, sponsors, staff, board members, and volunteers who made this event possible.

With your help at our annual auction, we raised over $115,000 to help Maine children, families, and individuals receive the mental health support and services they need and deserve. 

We can’t thank you enough for making this event so successful as the proceeds directly support Maine people during their darkest and scariest moments.

Sweetser’s Training Director Matt Robinson speaks to Q97.9 about suicide prevention month and the free mental health first aid trainings that are available.

One in five Americans experiences mental illness each year. In Maine, by one estimate, one in six kids aged between 6 and 17 experiences anxiety and depression. On average, one person in the U.S. completes suicide every 11 minutes. According to the National Mental Health Alliance, 260,862 Mainers live in communities that don’t have enough mental health professionals.

This September, Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, is an opportunity for all of us to take a step back and reflect on how our friends, family and colleagues – and we personally – are handling the stresses of everyday life.

While the pandemic has shapeshifted in intensity and severity over the last few years, the mental scars of such a traumatic time period can still be felt.

The way we work has been changing. People are starting to return to regular social engagement, even if some of us are a little rusty on the small talk. The cost of everything is putting pressure on just about every household. Not to mention news headlines from around the country and around the world that can keep us up at night. There’s been a lot of disruption and change in a relatively short amount of time. It’s a lot to manage and handle by oneself.

Let us use this month for a mental health checkup. Neither anxiety nor depression know socio-economic bounds. They do not discriminate. While stigma attached with seeking help for mental health challenges appears to be fading, recognizing the signs of mental illness isn’t always easy.

There are a few common signs to look out for: feeling sad or withdrawn for long periods; drastic changes in mood or behavior, or intense worry that prevents regular activities are just a few. If you notice any of these signs in yourself or those around you, it’s important to be understanding, ask questions and connect with mental health professionals.

Luckily, free trainings are available to help us all better support individuals in our lives when mental health challenges arise.

Because of a grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration my organization, Sweetser, provides mental health first aid and psychological first aid trainings, free of charge, across our state.

Mental health first aid is an evidence-based training program administered by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing that teaches us how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges.

Just as performing CPR helps you assist an individual having a heart attack, mental health first aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis. The course outlines risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, teaches strategies to help someone in crisis and non-crisis situations and offers information on where to turn for help.

Anyone dealing with young people, veterans, individuals working with veterans, frontline public safety workers like fire and police departments, all should consider undertaking training like this.

Developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the National Center for PTSD, psychological first aid has been used by the American Red Cross, first responders and law enforcement to train staff on how to respond to collective trauma experiences.

Since the start of the pandemic, the mental health needs of our first responders have been ever present. The need to better support individuals in roles that respond to and manage traumatic events is great.

Free mental health training could save a life, even your own.

Matt Robinson is Sweetser’s Director of Training.

Read full op-ed at Portland Press Herald: https://www.pressherald.com/2022/09/15/commentary-training-in-mental-health-first-aid-is-now-freely-available-lets-avail-of-it/