Western Mass RLC | Healing and Recovery Through Peer Support

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Thursday, 12 December 2019

Welcome to the Western Mass Recovery Learning Community

The Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (RLC) supports healing and empowerment for our broader communities and people who have been impacted by psychiatric diagnosis, trauma, extreme states, homelessness, problems with substances, and other life-interrupting challenges through:

Peer-to-peer support & genuine human relationships
Alternative Healing Practices
Learning Opportunities
Advocacy

Essential to our work is recognizing and undoing systemic injustices such as racism, sexism, ableism, transphobia, transmisogyny, and psychiatric oppression.

The RLC is made up of PEOPLE (not places) and is wherever and however YOU and others from the community may choose to connect. Together, we offer a variety of events, workshops, trainings, advocacy and leadership councils, as well as a peer support line, three resource centers (Springfield, Greenfield, and Holyoke) and a Peer Respite in Northampton. Above all else, we create space for anyone who has a genuine interest in taking part in our community and holding its values to share and find connection, information, ideas and opportunities to make change in their own lives and/or the community around them. Our shared experiences and ‘humanness’ are what unite us. Our stories, collective wisdom and strength are what guide us and our community forward.

The Recovery Learning Community (RLC) is a peer-run project providing supports to individuals with lived experience. One of the founding concepts behind the RLC is that human relationships with people are healing, particularly when those people have similar experiences. And so, above all else, the RLC strives to create forums through which human relationships, community and a regional network of supports can develop. On a day-to-day basis, that effort may take the form of a community meeting, a support group, a computer workshop and/or simply offering a safe space where people can communicate with others or simply be. The RLC also acts a clearing house for information about other resources in the community.

The Western Massachusetts Recovery Learning Community is funded, in part, by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, the United Way of Franklin County, and a variety of private foundations and donations.

COMMUNITY_HAPPENINGS

Challenging Times

It is difficult to know what to say in this challenging time. Standing Rock, the election, and the fear, anger, upset, and sense of betrayal experienced by so many in our communities are very real.

It’s unclear what lies ahead as we enter what feels like a period of great unknown and potential threats for our black, brown, Muslim, queer, trans*, and female-identified fellow citizens. In the little that Trump has had to say about mental health, it also appears he leans in support of the Murphy Bill and other regressive legislation. We have a long road ahead of us.

We haven't gathered our thoughts enough to pull together a statement of our own, but we didn’t want to remain silent as if nothing were happening. While we hope that our spaces can offer people a place to find mutual support and connect without fear of hate speech, we also want to take this moment to raise up the words of others:

First, we want to share that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and others in her office have organized a new hotline to report any incidents of bias-related threats or hate crimes.

The number is 800.994.3228. Complaints can also be filed here:

http://www.mass.gov/ago/consumer-resources/your-rights/civil-rights/civil-rights-complaint.html

Next, we want to share the following statement offered by Black Lives Matters last week. We have no claim to their words, but feel that those words are nonetheless powerful and important to share. Please select "Read more" below.

The RLC Human Rights Committee Needs You!

November 17th, 4:30pm to 6pm
(and quarterly on third Thursdays thereafter)
Refreshments provided!

The Western Mass RLC’s Human Rights Committee will meet Thursday, November 17th from 4:30pm to 6:00pm at the RLC’s Holyoke Center, 187 High Street, Suite 303.

We need new members who are interested in helping us to make sure we are staying on top of our own efforts to treat everyone fairly, even when difficult situations arise. Human Rights Committee members help us review incident reports, complaints, and any protocols that might be seen as restricting anyone’s access to RLC supports.

Who can join?

ANYONE who is not paid by the RLC (as an employee, consultant, etc.) and who has an interest in human rights and the RLC community.

E-mail Erin if interested in attending at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Six Flags Update - Success!

At the end of September, we sent out an action alert letting everyone know that Six Flags was set to feature an extremely offensive Halloween exhibit called the ‘Psycho-path Haunted Asylum.’ It was described as follows: Six Flags Fright Fest

"Experience the all-new PSYCHO-PATH Haunted Asylum coming to Fright Fest 2016. Wander through an abandoned asylum in small groups through tight spaces, darkened corridors and forgotten cells. The inmates of the Asylum have broken loose and will have you screaming in sheer terror as they taunt and torture their newest victims.

Dr. Shockmoore will proudly showcase his latest in deranged experiments as you witness a lobotomy, shock treatment and isolation of his most insane and twisted patients. Will you escape or become Dr. Shockmoore’s latest experiment in his deranged and twisted plan?"

Thank you to everyone who took action and called or e-mailed
Six Flags in Western Mass, and thank you as well to all the people across the country who took similar actions with other Six Flags locations.
It made a difference!

The end result?
Six Flags has CANCELLED their ‘psycho-path’ exhibit,
and replaced it with the following:

“The Forgotten Laboratory: Traverse through this haunted laboratory where scientists are conducting their latest experiments as they gather research and data.”

Our success here is a great example of how much power

we can have when we all come together to get heard!

The Western Mass RLC's Pittsfield Center is Closing

By now, many of you will have heard that we are closing one of the Western Mass RLC’s spaces—the Pittsfield Center. This was a difficult decision and was based largely on some unexpected turns in our budget related to Chapter 257 (a state-wide process of ‘rate setting’ that began to affect us about a year ago).

The last day of official open hours for our Pittsfield Center will be Thursday, November 3rd.

Please consider taking some time between now and then to stop in and help us say goodbye to the space, and to connect with and thank everyone else who’s played a role in holding and helping to shape our community based in Pittsfield.

On that note, a special thanks to both Cate and Alan who have played such key roles in developing the RLC in our most Western parts of Western Massachusetts. They’ve given so much heart and energy to what we have accomplished. Although they will be leaving their formal roles as Coordinator and Advocate as we close the center, we do anticipate you’ll still be able to find them around town facilitating groups, in community, and helping us learn and think through how we might move forward.

If you have any questions, or would like to get involved in the new visioning process, please contact Dani This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Keep checking our website and Facebook page for the

most current information on the Pittsfield schedule.

Click "Read more" below to learn more about what went into making this decision.

The RLC's Springfield Center Re-Opens!

235 Chestnut Street in Springfield

The RLC’s Springfield (Bowen) Center is set to
re-open on Tuesday, November 1!

The new center is located at 235 Chestnut Street in Springfield - downtown, near the YMCA and right next to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Our center is located right on the first floor, with a fully accessible entrance, so we’re super easy to find. Stop in to check the place out!

Our hours will be the same as at the old center:

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9am to 2pm

Saturday 11am to 3pm

The new center will offer everything that the old Bowen did (computers, gym equipment, space to connect with others, chess!), and more. Some of the newer features will be available right away (like a shower!), and others will take a bit more time to get up and running (food pantry, etc.), but we’re excited about how it’s all taking shape.

We’ll also need help developing a new mural (the image above comes from our original mural at the old Bowen Center), so come with your creative ideas.

Got questions? Give Earl a call at 413.539.8603 or e-mail him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

RLC Center Updates

Some of our spaces are going through significant changes at the moment.

Here are the latest updates!

Bowen Center

As planned, everything has been moved from the original Bowen Center to our new spot in downtown Springfield. Renovations are underway and will include:

* Installing a shower
* Getting ready to host a food pantry (although it won’t be fully ready to go until we’re a bit further down the road)
* Moving some walls and doorways around so that we have a room specifically for meetings and groups, and a new designated kitchen spot.
* Setting up a gender-neutral bathroom in the space.
* Getting new rugs installed throughout the space

Although we’re not going to be able to open at the start of October as we’d hoped, we’re now expecting to open at the start of November. In the meantime, if you want to help out, have questions, or are looking for support, feel free to reach out to Earl (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or (413) 539-8603) or Erin (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.):

Greenfield Center

Unfortunately, the RLC’s Greenfield Center was the victim of a flood at the end of July, and that has left us with some damage and has made the space at least temporarily unusable. We are currently exploring all of our options, and will let everyone know what’s next as soon as we have more information to share!

In the meantime, click here to check our Greenfield area calendar for the location of our various groups, which have all been relocated to nearby spaces.

Holyoke Center Elevator

What’s going on with the elevator in the building where the RLC’s Holyoke Center is located has become a bit of a running joke! We have received dates many times for the start date of repairs (to include the complete replacement of the elevator unit itself), then we’ve passed the dates along to you only to have nothing happen!

The truth is, we just don’t know when the elevator repairs are going to happen, but once they start we do expect the elevator to not be available for about two weeks.

In the meantime, unfortunately, there are times here and there when it is down for smaller service jobs. Although we’re not sure we’ll be able to get an accurate start date yet, we will post on Facebook (click here) once it has begun! (You can also always call us ahead of time to make sure it’s running, at (413)-539-5941.)

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