Welcome to the Western Mass Recovery Learning Community
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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.
Talking Points Against Drug Sniffing Dogs
The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) will hold a public hearing for people to offer their opinions on whether or not it is acceptable for them to use drug sniffing dogs in their efforts to keep Worcester State Hospital (and possibly other hospitals) free of drugs. Laws have already been amended to allow for the use of drug sniffing dogs in these facilities (see section in red HERE). In September, DMH will also be holding a public hearing to help them decide whether or not they will actually take advantage of these new changes. The hearing will take place on September 12 from 2pm to 4pm in Boston. You can learn more on the details of the hearing HERE. Comments can be offered there verbally or in writing (or both) or by e-mail (no later than September 12) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
We offer the following talking points for your consideration below:
* Drug sniffing dogs are wrong a majority of the time. According to research, false positives (a dog alerting to the presence of drugs when drugs are not ultimately found) ranges from about 63 to 82% of the time. (RMIT ABC Fact Check)
* Drug sniffing dogs are heavily influenced by the bias of their handlers. For example, one study found that drug sniffing dogs had an accuracy rate of 44% during stopped vehicle checks, but that that accuracy rate dropped to 27% when the driver was latinx. (Chicago Tribune)
Strength in Together
A Statement from Western Mass RLC Director, Sera Davidow
I write this on behalf of the Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (RLC). I also write it as someone who was quite directly impacted by a school shooting that took place back in 1992 at Simon’s Rock College in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. That shooting happened 20 years to the day before Newtown. I knew both the person who perpetrated the violence, and one of the people he murdered, Galen Gibson, who was in my entering class of 27 kids in the winter of ‘91.
My message is simple: This violence cannot be blamed on what society calls “mental illness.”
On August 5th, CBS News published an article detailing the number of mass shootings to date in 2019: 255 shootings in 217 days. (At least) three of them took place in just the last week, resulting in a total of 34 fatalities and another 66 injured. Investigations into each incident are underway, but we’ve already learned that the young man in California had a target list that included various religious institutions, the young man in Ohio had a "rape" list that included women who’d turned him down for dates, and the young man in Texas cited the “Hispanic invasion” as part of his motivation (while also praising the young man in New Zealand who intentionally targeted Muslims). Technically, only two of the three met the threshold of “mass shooting,” because the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has declared there must be four fatalities in a single incident in order to qualify. Meanwhile, Donald Trump gave a nod to racism and white supremacy (without acknowledging his own contributions to the same), then moving on to suggest that people with psychiatric diagnoses should be “involuntarily confined” to “prevent mass shootings." His remarks cited the “mentally ill monsters” that must be stopped.
But, this violence cannot be blamed on what society calls “mental illness.”
And Our New Name is...
After several go rounds and surveys and input from lots of different places, we have settled on:
Wildflower Alliance
What is the significance of wild flowers?: Since there beginning of RLC existence, our logo has been a boot with flowers. The boot is worn and torn, and meant to represent the bumps and bruises we experience on our path through life, while the flowers are meant to represent the beauty and growth that are born of that journey. It was created by Janice Sorensen who was a member of the original Guiding Council of Western Mass (formed a couple of years before the RLC was funded), and also worked as the RLC's County Coordinator in Franklin County (among other contributions). Recently, Janice reminded us that the daisies pictured in the boot are actually one of the most popular and well known wild flowers around. So, in some ways, this name represents coming into alignment with our visual representation (logo).
The significance goes beyond just that, though. Wild flowers are also often mistaken for something to be gotten rid of, as weeds. They are misunderstood, and sometimes their beauty is ignored or devalued. Yet, wild flowers are strong, and able to grow and flourish in a variety of places. Some wild flowers (like dandelions, for example), form tremendously strong underground networking systems with their roots, and represent survival even in the most challenging conditions.
Ultimately, for all these reasons, we see wild flowers as being much like ourselves: Sometimes our power, beauty, and wisdom gets overlooked or dismissed. Yet, we remain strong and resilient (able to bounce back from the bad things that happen to us), and through connection with others, we are able to build networks that can help us survive the most difficult storms. Our potential for growth is great, if given a chance.
White Fragility
This event will be held on October 9th, 2019 from 4:30pm to 7:30pm at DeCice Hall at the Marian Center, 1365 Northampton St, Holyoke.
Join us for the 4th and final session of the 2019 Anti-Oppression series during which we will view a screening of a talk by Robin Diangelo on her book, ‘White Fragility,’ and then be led in a post-screening dialogue by local writer and facilitator, Angela Roell.
Angela Roell (they/them/theirs) is a nonbinary educator, facilitator, evaluator and writer who works with organizations at the intersection of land and food to build & evaluate equity frameworks in organizational structures. Angela teaches courses at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the Franklin County House of Corrections in food justice and beekeeping. Angela runs a small co-operative apiary project called “Yard Birds Bees” and has developed collaborative organizing tools and trainings based on honeybee systems. Their forthcoming book of beekeeping tools, collaborative organizing tools from the hive and stories from within the beekeeping world is due out in Fall 2019 via the University of Massachusetts Library Open Education Initiative.
What Holiday's should we celebrate?
A few years back, the Western Mass RLC updated our mission statement and included this sentence at the end:
“Essential to our work is recognizing and undoing systemic injustices such as racism, sexism, transphobia and psychiatric oppression."
Nothing about our mission statement or values is meant to be just words posted on a wall or website and then forgotten. We are committed to continuing to explore and vision what that sentence means, and how we can bring it to life. As a part of that effort, we are now taking a look at the holidays we most recognize.
Federal Government Seeks YOUR Input on HIPAA
In December, the Department of Health and Human Services released a Request for Information (RFI) on the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act otherwise known as HIPAA. The RFI is basically asking that YOU (any interested human or group of humans) provide input on how the government should make changes to this law.
HIPAA is the federal law that prohibits sharing of your personal health information between providers without your express knowledge and permission. It also requires various safety measures to help keep your personal information safe.
HIPAA is already something that gets violated all the time in the mental health system. Providers discuss personal information with people (or even worse, with people’s assigned staff supporters) in or too near to waiting rooms on a regular basis. Some mental health providers have people working in cubicles that do not provide enough privacy, and where anyone within earshot will be able to determine personal things about someone else even when the conversation is taking place over the phone (and the person on the other end has no idea that parts of their personal information might be overheard by people in the vicinity). Co-workers unnecessarily identify people by name to other co-workers (from different programs and who weren’t in a position to need to know personal things about them) during meetings under the guise of getting support that clearly could have been gotten without disclosing the person’s identity. People are convinced they have to sign releases of information they didn’t actually have to sign in order to get services or retain provider relationships. Far too many providers who have friendly relationships with one another get careless about protecting people’s information when they’re talking to each other.
Yes, HIPAA is already violated quite regularly in dozens of small ways, and without consequence most of the time. And now, the government is specifically seeking input on further weakening privacy protections.
