May is Mental Health Awareness Month and our Senior Director of Public Relations & Advancement, Justin Chenette, appeared on Newsradio WGAN‘s Maine Points to talk about the important work Sweetser is doing to reduce stigma and increase access to mental health across our state.
Take a listen: https://wgan.com/podcasts/102771-2/
This May marks the 1-year anniversary of the Child Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program! Since its launch, the ACT Team has supported 33 youth on their mental health journeys, successfully discharged 11 clients, with 9 stepping down to a less acute level of care, and 2 entering residential programs where they can continue their progress in a supportive environment.
Over the past year, we’ve expanded our staffing and introduced specialized roles to more effectively meet the needs of both older and younger youth. This is demonstrated in the way that our older participants benefit from our Youth Peer Support and Employment Specialists, while younger youth and their families often thrive through the guidance of our Behavioral Health Specialists and Family Support Specialists.
Wendy Anders – Senior Director
Taylor Paquin – Clinical Supervisor
Sonya Hawkins – Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Eve Palmatier – Team Clinician
Arie Salisbury – Case Manager
Kayli Gertsen – Behavioral Health Professional
James Howard – Employment Specialist
Stephanie Lacourse – Nurse Care Manager
Becky Place & Tina Simas – Family Support Specialists
Hayleigh Bolduc & May Hohman – Youth Peer Support Specialists
Katreena Keefe – Program Administrative Support.
We are also grateful for our Relief Clinicians:
Willa Stockwell, Linda Berg, Meghan McCrillis, Chelsea Rose, Ellen Haney, and Terri Wentworth Bennett.
We appreciate our dedicated Relief Case Managers:
Laine Tapan Kane, Kris Gross, Meghan Kerry, Eileen Quimby, and Bridget Hester.
Thank you to all our staff, partners, youth, and families for making this year one of growth, resilience, and healing. We look forward to continuing this important work and celebrating many more milestones to come.
Take a listen to our latest radio Mental Health Minute with Lori Voornas from 94.9 WHOM and Sweetser’s Justin Chenette discussing how the new 988 text/call line will help save lives.
What a night in Old Orchard Beach! Our Spring Into Hope Maine Fashion Show, organized with our friends at WMTW Channel 8, was a big hit. Together, we were able to raise over $14,000 for Sweetser. Everyone had a blast walking the runway, enjoying the live DJ music, and hopping in front of the fun photobooth.
Check out some of the highlights of the night!
On Sunday, Sweetser took part in the Mental Health Matters 5K at Greely High School in Cumberland to raise awareness for youth mental health and suicide prevention. The morning kicked off with a welcome ceremony at the school’s newly planted Hope Garden, a symbol of hope for those in mental health and substance use recovery. Dozens of students, faculty, and community members made their way to the school’s track where Sweetser and other partner organizations passed out mental health resources along the way.
Thanks to Greely High School for hosting this important event!
The Sweetser staff kicked off Pride month at the Great Falls Pride!
The event began with a parade from Festival Plaza in Auburn to Simard Payne Park in Lewiston where a festival and celebration was held. Sweetser’s team took part in the festivities, playing Giant Connect Four with the kiddos and offering warmth, acceptance, and mental health resources to festivalgoers.
The goal of the festival was to provide attendees with a safe space to express themselves and feel welcome. Many commented that Sweetser’s booth offered that level of acceptance and support. Thank you to all who made this important day possible!
Sweetser has been in the news recently highlighting the state awarding the organization $2 million to construct and operate Maine’s first Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility on the Saco campus. See the media stories below.
WGME Channel 13
WMTW Channel 8
Bangor Daily News
“Sweetser is proud to lead the effort to bring our kids home from expensive, out-of-state care,” said Sweetser CEO Jayne Van Bramer. “Our goal over the next year will be to create a therapeutic space in Saco that families can be proud of. With this decision, the state has taken a significant step toward filling a critical gap in the continuum of care and ultimately strengthening our youth behavioral health system.”
News Center Maine
Portland Press Herald
“Being able to have an available locked residential program for children who require that level of service is long overdue,” Van Bramer said in an interview Thursday. “The absence of that has resulted in children being sent out of state, away from family, languishing in emergency rooms for weeks or months at a time.”
On our latest Mental Health Moment segment on WMTW Channel 8, Sweetser’s Senior Director of Public Relations & Advancement, Justin Chenette, spoke about our upcoming Spring Into Hope Fashion Show event happening in Old Orchard Beach.
Tickets available here: https://marketing.wmtw.com/springintohope2025
Sweetser’s Brunswick Hope & Healing Center proudly hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony with our friends at the Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the grand opening of our new full-service on-site pharmacy. Local community members, partner representatives, Sweetser team members, and our board member Jay McCreight were all there to highlight this important addition to the region.
Housing a pharmacy with our partner Genoa Healthcare at our Brunswick CCBHC will reduce barriers for our clients and strengthen the coordination between our team and the pharmacist both for treatment medication, but also overall wellbeing.
This type of partnership in other states has yielded to 90% medication adherence rates, 40% fewer hospitalizations, and 18% fewer ER visits.
Our new pharmacy will provide added convenience for clients and staff alike and will eventually open its doors to welcome the public. We deeply appreciate the hard work of our Senior Director of Community Services, Joey Rossignol, and his team in bringing this partnership together.
Our pharmacy is located at our Hope & Healing Center at 329 Bath Road in Brunswick and our hours are: 8:30am to 5pm, Monday – Friday; closed for lunch 12:30pm – 1pm.
Sweetser’s Senior Director of Public Relations & Advancement, Justin Chenette, appeared on the TV show Saco River Chronicles to discuss Sweetser’s latest programs and available resources for those in the area. The show is broadcast in select towns throughout York County on the Saco River Television channel. Check out this segment to hear the latest.