Great Falls Pride 2025

Posted by Jessica Tornatore

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!

Media blitz on Sweetser securing funds for Maine’s 1st PRTF

Posted by Liz Smith

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.”

Read the full article

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.”

Read the full article

Sweetser Opens New Pharmacy at Brunswick Hope & Healing Center

Posted by Jessica Tornatore

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.

LOCAL NEWS: Sweetser on Saco River TV

Posted by Liz Smith

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.

NEWS: WGME’s Inside Maine Show

Posted by Liz Smith

Our Senior Director of Public Relations & Advancement Justin Chenette stopped by Inside Maine’s Best with WGME’s Adrienne Stein for a segment about mental health resources and how our Hope & Healing Centers are reducing barriers to accessing care.

Watch below.

NEWS: Sweetser participates in behavioral health press conference

Posted by Liz Smith

Recently, Sweetser’s President & CEO Jayne Van Bramer joined with other partner organizations as part of the Behavioral Health Priorities Coalition to release the legislative package we are advocating for this session. Some of our priority legislation includes bills like An Act to Expand Child Assertive Community Treatment and An Act to Provide Grants to Schools That Contract for Behavioral and Mental Health Services.

View the full legislative package below:

2025 BHPC Legislative Package by Sweetser

TV Segment: How Music Can Impact Mental Health

Posted by Jessica Tornatore

Studies show music can boost your mood and help fight depression. On this WMTW: Mental Health Moment, Sweetser’s Medical Director, Dr. Marc Kaplan, explains how music supports emotional regulation, cognitive function, social connection, and relaxation.

TV Segment: Farm Program Enhances Treatment

Posted by Liz Smith

Sweetser’s longtime Educator & Farm Manager Julia Birtolo was a guest on WMTW’s Mental Health Moment where she discussed the amazing experiences students at our K-12 Special Purpose School in Saco get to have out on our farm.

News: Sweetser advocates to fill MaineCare funding gap

Posted by Liz Smith

Sweetser has been out front on the current $118 million MaineCare funding shortfall the state is currently faced with. Sweetser’s Chief Financial Officer John McAnuff has been crisscrossing multiple media outlets to make the case for why it’s critical for providers like us to be made whole and avoid any delays in MaineCare payments. While the supplemental budget failed to get to 2/3’s support, legislative leadership is proposing a MaineCare fix as part of the regular budget process. We remain hopeful for a solution. See articles and clips below…

MAINE MORNING STAR 

“The clients that we serve are not numbers on a spreadsheet,” McAnuff said. “They are real people with real challenges, and disruptions in service will negatively impact their lives and the communities in which they live.”

READ STORY

NEWS CENTER MAINE

WGME CHANNEL 13

“We are greatly concerned that this will impact Mainers in all parts of the state,” Sweetser Chief Financial Officer John McAnuff said.