Sweetser and 94.9 WHOM have teamed up for a new monthly radio segment called ‘Mental Health Minute’. Radio Host Lori Voornas and Sweetser’s Senior Director of Public Relations Justin Chenette discuss a different monthly topic to educate listeners on available resources.
Listen to the segments aired so far below:
Sweetser is excited to announce a brand-new program opening on our Saco campus! Aptly named Fresh Start, this transitional residential program provides a physical, therapeutic place for young adults to treat their mental health challenges and get the necessary support they need to become successfully independent.
Sweetser President & CEO Jayne Van Bramer recently spoke at Rotary Club meetings in York, Sanford-Springvale, and Rockland.
Her presentations addressed:
If you are looking for a speaker on mental health or recovery in Maine, reach out to Sweetser at communications@sweetser.org.
Sweetser is grateful to all the businesses, individuals and our staff who helped support our annual holiday gift program for the youth we serve.
Thanks to:
In a study done in 2023 by the American Psychology Association, 41 percent of people reported elevated stress levels during the holiday season. News Center Maine interviewed Sweetser’s Senior Director of Public Relations & Advancement Justin Chenette about some ways to look after yourself during the holidays.
“This can also help address the children who end up languishing in ER’s for weeks if not months on end because their acuity and illness are too much to be managed at home or in the current child residential structure that we have,” said Jayne Van Bramer, president and CEO at Sweetser.
Sweetser’s Senior Director of Community-Based Services for Cumberland County, Joey Rossignol, appeared on WMTW’s weekly Mental Health Moment segment to discuss the benefits of our Behavioral Health Home services for adults.
After the opening of Sweetser’s Lewiston Hope & Healing Center, we submitted an Op-Ed to the Press Herald about the importance of the services we are now offering and how this expansion will help not just Lewiston but everyone throughout Androscoggin County. Check out the published editorial below.
Sweetser is starting to promote the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the United States. This shorter phone number will make it easier for people to remember and access mental health crisis services. Much like people have it fully engrained to call 911 during emergencies to be connected with public safety officials, the goal is to do the same thing with 988 for mental health support. This will hopefully reduce barriers to getting help when someone needs it and get them in touch with local providers like Sweetser, as the largest provider of mobile crisis services in our state.
Sweetser’s Senior Director of Public Relations & Advancement, Justin Chenette, was interviewed on WMTW’s Mental Health Moment segment to talk about why this number will be lifesaving.
We held a grand opening event with our friends from the Lewiston Auburn Chamber of Commerce that included Senator Peggy Rotundo, Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline, Auburn Mayor Jeff Harmon, Lewiston City Councilor Scott Harriman, Lewiston Fire Chief Mark Caron, Androscoggin County Sheriff Eric Samson, Lewiston’s Police Department Sergeant Desiree Michaud, U.S. Senator Susan Collins’ State Office Representative Carlene Tremblay, Congressman Jared Golden’s District Representative Scott Dresser, and many more.
Behavioral health provider Sweetser has opened a new mental health and substance use clinic in Lewiston.
Sweetser’s Hope & Healing Center has opened next to Just-In Time Recreation and will provide walk-in hours for an array of evidence-based services for those who need both immediate help and Mainers who need easy access to professional support.
Thanks to a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and support from the Maine Department of Health & Human Services, Sweetser was able to open this Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC).
CCBHC’s are designed to increase timely access to wraparound mental health and substance use services in areas that otherwise lack accessibility.
“Having a central, physical space located in service center communities will reduce barriers to accessing treatment, expand the type of services offered, and increase the number of people served,” said Kristen Cianelli, Sweetser’s Director of Community-Based Services. “Think of this center as a mental health version of a walk-in care clinic, a one stop shop for all things mental health and recovery.”
Last year, nearly 2,000 residents throughout Androscoggin County were helped by Sweetser’s mental health services. This center will enable Sweetser to serve at least 700 more Mainers in need.
Center services include:
CCBHCs across the country have dramatically increased access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment. Sweetser operates two other centers, one that opened earlier this year in Sanford and the other in Brunswick.
“In the year since the Lewiston mass shooting, the long road to hope and healing isn’t over. We have served the Lewiston area for decades, but to meet the long-term mental health needs of the community and expand treatment to more people, we have to literally meet people where they’re at,” says Sweetser’s President & CEO Jayne Van Bramer. “Together we are writing a new chapter of hope and healing, and we will all be forever Lewiston Strong.”
Sweetser’s Hope & Healing Center is located at 20 Mollison Way in Lewiston. Walk-in hours are available Mondays and Wednesdays from 9-3 starting the first week of December.
Mainers can access mental health and recovery support by calling the Promiseline at 1-800-434-3000 or emailing at info@sweetser.org. Learn more at www.LewistonHealing.org.
