SAFE will host the traveling art installation “Ribbons of Recovery” Thursday, November 7th at SAFE HQ in Franklin. Presented by FIRST Steps Together with the Cape Cod Children’s Place, Ribbons for Recovery uses material art to reveal the many paths taken toward recovery and the effort it takes to continue the journey.    As an act of trauma recovery, the project transforms a process shrouded in stigma into a celebration of grit and achievement.    To make the art exhibit, Cape Cod residents in recovery, all of whom are parents, added a ribbon to a ring for every recovery modality they had undertaken. The FIRST team, a peer-led initiative staffed by folks with personal recovery experience, added ribbons to their own rings as well.     Creators say the process was powerful. “There was love, there were tears, there were emotions on all sides,” says FIRST Family Recovery Support Specialist Erin Pierce.   Stringing the rings together on a shared cord made the collective journey of recovery seem less individual and more communal. “Right away, we could see that we were all in it together,” Pierce says.   The team also sought to create a project that shows the non-linear, often multimodal nature of recovery. They see each ribbon on each ring as progressing on a path toward agency, hope, and self-love. “Our wish is for the ribbons to illuminate all the possibilities for pathways to recovery,” say the Ribbons for Recovery creators, "and light the way for others who may still feel like they’re wandering in the dark.”   Pierce agrees. “One of the things I had a hard time with early on was how hard it was to see a sparkly, colorful ribbon and know that it represented something tragic like overdose. But the beauty of this project is that it helps you realize that each ribbon is a celebration, because it moved someone a step closer to being clean and sober.” Created in 2023, Ribbons for Recovery has been exhibited across the Cape. It will be featured at SAFE on November 7th from 5:30-9:30pm, with the exhibit’s creators on hand for discussion, questions, and resources. Cape Cod Childrens Place offers education and services to families across the Cape and islands. Their FIRST Steps Together programs support families affected by substance use disorder and support groups for grandparents raising grandchildren.

Each August, we take time to pay tribute to the toll overdose takes on our communities.   To the heartbroken friends and family members of lost loved ones.   To activists who fight for policy reform.   To healthcare and harm reduction workers.   To unwavering advocates.   Overdose can affect anyone, so we remember the tenacity of our community and lean into the power we wield when we work together.  SAFE’s Tree of Life memorial expands on the spirit of Overdose Awareness Day, providing year-round remembrance and tribute to those who have suffered, fought, and offered their support to this cause.   The Tree of Life exists as a floor-to-ceiling mural greeting everyone who walks through SAFE’s doors. Anyone can sponsor adding a name to a leaf, whether to celebrate recovery, acknowledge advocacy, or as a life tribute.   Founded in 2020 by board member Mary Graham Louise, the initiative was launched to create a permanent, tangible site of remembrance, celebration, and awareness-raising right here at SAFE.  For those who have endured the stigma of overdose, the Tree of Life offers a rare chance for compassionate and judgement-free commemoration. “This initiative exists to say that we see each other,” says SAFE Co-Founder Jim Derick, “even through addictions and scenarios that have been traditionally stigmatized. The Tree is an affirmative statement that there is no shame in these illnesses, and we can forge connection not in spite of, but through these struggles.”  Derick also sees the Tree of Life as a way to offer public support and build consensus around destigmatization. “Oftentimes, we underestimate how important it is to provide positive affirmation to people who are in the fight for their lives in a disease that is so heavily stigmatized, or for those going through bereavement,” says Derick. “One good word, one positive action, can literally change their trajectory at any given day or time.”  The Tree of Life also affords a rare opportunity to celebrate recovery in a society where addiction stigma is so powerful, it can even overshadow recovery. “This is a community’s expression that someone’s recovery matters,” says Derick. “Here is where we publicly acknowledge someone’s recovery in a way that our society just doesn't do elsewhere.”  With every leaf added to the Tree of Life memorial, SAFE expands our community of advocates, supporters, and compassionate voices. Each contributor quite literally becomes a part of our physical space and, hopefully, a messenger for our mission to ensure that no one needs to go it alone.  Funds raised from the sale of leaves go toward furthering SAFE’s mission to provide community-wide, judgement-free support across a spectrum of substance use and mental health issues. As Derick puts it, those who add leaves aren’t just donors, they are stewards of the SAFE mission itself. "It is an act that says, ‘This is an important place and I’m going to help care for it,’” Derick says.   For more information on becoming part of the Tree of Life initiative, see SAFE’s website or contact us .

This month we pause to honor a trusted and valuable partner of ours, William "Bill" Hawkes.   Bill is above all else, a man living in long term recovery. Professionally, he works with with Recovery Centers of America as a Treatment Advocate and it is in this capacity that we first met him. We know Bill to be someone who has dedicated himself personally to helping others achieve recovery. And he stops at nothing to do that.   The most unique thing is he is always focused on what can he do for the people we're collaborating together to help. He has moved mountains to get people help in ways we have simply never seen before.    He is passionate about serving others, always available for people we're working with to access any level of treatment. Simply put, Bill is a champion for those who need it most. We are forever grateful for his guidance and commitment to those served by SAFE Coalition.

Long before SAFE was founded, Donna was a sounding board for co-founder Jen Levine's idea to create a space for families impacted by mental health and substance use. Again and again, idea after idea, task after task, Donna responded with a resounding "YES." Yes, to making the phone calls. Yes, to sending the emails. Yes, to developing a response to a crisis shrouded in stigma. Donna’s unwavering confidence and support of our programs over the last 8 years has left a permanent impact on our organization. We are forever grateful for her guidance and her commitment to the SAFE Coalition.

Try this: Think of a major problem in your life. Now, imagine that tonight, while you are sleeping, a miracle happens and your problem disappears. How would your life be different when you awaken? Be specific: what changes would you experience?   Reading that scenario, maybe you felt your sense of personal motivation triggered: you found your “why”. For many, it works almost immediately, illuminating reasons that keep them focused through the demanding work of overcoming challenges and achieving goals.   As part of SAFE’s WhyTry program, this question is a building block in a curriculum helping local teens find their “why” and move through and beyond their own hurdles.     SAFE CEO and co-founder Jen Levine first encountered the WhyTry curriculum in her work serving teens in San Diego, young people surviving everything from gangs to human trafficking, substance use, the foster system and more. "I witnessed the program's ability to inspire unbelievable growth in emotional regulation," says Levine.     Launching this fall, SAFE WhyTry teaches strategies for building decision-making skills, self-esteem, emotional regulation, and a sense of responsibility as a path to overcoming challenges and developing resilience. Ultimately, the goal of SAFE WhyTry is to prevent vulnerabilities that lead to substance use and other harmful behaviors.     Building on the nationally recognized WhyTry curriculum in use for 20 years in thousands of educational settings, SAFE WhyTry uses straightforward object lessons, games, group discussions and activities to help students build their emotional intelligence and add to their emotional toolkit.     SAFE WhyTry program director Oomiya Kawas says the benefit of WhyTry is its researched-backed, straightforward approach. “Science and research tell us that our prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that governs emotions and impulse control, isn't finished developing until around 25 years old,” says Kawas. "Knowing that, we see the importance of teaching young people about emotional regulation through curriculum that has a low barrier to entry including play, familiar graphics, and metaphors.”    It has been long proven that emotional regulation plays a significant role in adolescent wellbeing, and when it's lacking, it can contribute to wellness factors like low self-esteem, isolation, aggression, and impulse control. SAFE WhyTry teaches tools for intervening in the negative defense mechanisms that inhibit emotional regulation.     Emma Kelley, Director of Adolescent Wellness, sees students’ perspectives and sense of hope thrive once they realize the power good choices plays in being able to navigate complicated emotional circumstances. “You actually get to make a choice in every situation,” says Kelley. “You can choose to do something different. You can choose to do something positive.” The course emphasizes ways to replace negative behaviors with positive ones to reset harmful behavior patterns, overcome obstacles, and achieve goals.    Kawas is hopeful that the course will also provide downstream benefits to the entire community. “Offering a program like this creates invaluable protective factors in our community,” says Kawas. “When one student attends the program...they will share some of their experience, and that will impact their friend group which will impact their friends’ friend groups and so on.” The cumulative outcome is a more protective and proactive community for every teen.    SAFE WhyTry is free to attend and now open for enrollment. For more information, contact info@safecoalition.org

Teen Drop-in is one of 3 summer programs helping teens find community and build social-emotional tools for resiliency. For registration for all programs, click here.  SAFE is kicking off the summer with three programs designed specifically for teens to make friends while building vital emotional life skills. Designed around workshops and conversations in small group settings, the programs , designed and run by our team of adolescent leadership and outreach experts, are completely free to attend.  SAFE’s Teen Drop-in Center (Thursdays 10-noon) is providing a safe space for teens to build community and develop practical strategies for regaining and sustaining their own wellness. The interactive course will follow the widely used WRAP method  (wellness recovery action plan). This group is geared toward sharing, processing, and growing in community. We’ll host snacks, games and activities as we work to form our WRAP action plans together. Runs 5 weeks starting July 11. Our Summer Teen Girls Program (Tuesdays 3-4pm) and Teen Male Mentorship Program (Mondays 3-4pm) are group mentorships helping teens develop deeper understandings of themselves, expand their wellness toolbox, learn how to foster responsible decision making, and build a supportive network of peers. We’re offering a safe and fun space to join guest speakers, workshops, guided discussions, and activities that help navigate challenges and develop skills and resources to thrive. This program will also integrate elements of WRAP to help participants build resilience, self-confidence, and adaptability. Runs 6 weeks starting June 24th. What is WRAP ? Developed in 1997 by people impacted by mental health recovery, WRAP is a process that helps people build social-emotional and life strategies, maintain positive mental health, and achieve their goals. WRAP has been used in all 50 states and 15 countries around the world. It’s been extensively adapted for use with all kinds of life issues, expanding well beyond mental health. Today, it is a cornerstone of health programs all over the world. As a learning tool, WRAP helps people grow their sense of personal responsibility, learn to self-advocate for what they need, and become accepting of support from others. For young adults, this can be crucial. The program is elastic, allowing you to modify it as you change and grow, particularly useful for young people. As the program organization AHP  puts it, “You can change your WRAP as you grow. It’s yours, and you can use it to make positive changes in your life.” WRAP can help with a variety of social-emotional situations including dealing with uncomfortable feelings or thoughts, managing stress, starting or ending relationships, making friends, managing home and family challenges, and navigating peer pressure. It can also help build tools that aid important life skills like Managing schoolwork, starting a new school or job, handling stress at work, and dealing with a serious injury. Sign-up for our summer programs is already underway! Visit our sign-up page  or email us with questions.

SAFE’s Trickle Up Effect is an interactive workshop offering businesses and organizations the chance to get curious and have courageous conversations around gender, sexuality, and the importance of inclusion in the workplace.   Through Trickle Up Effect’s interactive lessons, participants learn how to be better advocates for LGBTQ employees and clients and how to respond to challenging and uncomfortable situations. Developed in 2018 and brought to SAFE in March 2022, Trickle Up Effect has since trained 75 individuals. Now more than ever, groups are seeing the value of leveling up their knowledge on how to nurture inclusivity and promote authenticity in the workplace. The program was developed by SAFE Director of Training and Development Oomiya Kawas (they/she pronouns), who has a background in diversity, equity, and inclusion, gender support resourcing, and LGBTQIA+ adolescent outreach. “When families struggle to accept their LGBT child’s identity, it can result in anxiety, depression, and suicidality–all these negative outcomes,” says Kawas. “I was working with families to put systems in place to reduce those negative outcomes, and the most effective of those were love, acceptance, and encouraging their kids to be their authentic selves. Those experiences really honed my skills.” More than a lecture, Trickle Up Effect is a conversational space for asking questions and coming to a better understanding of gender, identity, transness, marginalization, and privilege. Kawas says they have witnessed these seemingly small moments of conversation offer a powerful impact. “Being able to facilitate spaces where people feel safe to ask questions and get vulnerable, it promotes learning and growing. Each time that happens, the ripple effect is powerful.” Kawas has seen this impact in businesses as well. “Educating your teams on how to meet people from all different walks of life increases revenue,” she says. “And many companies are beginning to see that.” The program encourages new ways of identifying accessibility needs, helping organizations meet the goal of ensuring anyone–not just a few people–can say, ‘This place is built with me in mind.’ One Massachusetts-based medical group was motivated toward tangible change in their organization following their Trickle-Up Effect training. The team of doctors and nurses became aware of a need to revise their intake process and decided to consult with Kawas. Together, they went through the clinic's intake paperwork and processes and made sure that they were inclusive of trans and gender-expansive identities. “It was really moving knowing that patients who might have struggled going to the doctor because of the psychological implications of being misgendered or dead-named would have safeguards in place to prevent that," says Kawas. "I was honored to be a part of it.” Businesses are increasingly seeking out the Trickle Up Effect with their bottom line in mind, an intent that Kawas says is paying off. “If I have to show up every day at my job and I can’t be who I am, I am using a big piece of my bandwidth to shield myself, privately build my own accommodations, and be this other person,” they say. “When we can show up as our authentic selves without fear, we are more creative, more innovative, and can more easily see our work in a new way. We all know that unhappy employees equal more turnover, which is more onboarding and training, one of the biggest internal expenses. So equity really is money in your pocket.” One point of the Trickle Up Effect curriculum is to show the ways stereotypes limit our understanding of others. In one activity, participants practice telling their life story in gender stereotypes, holding back details that don’t seem to fit. One participant expressed how freeing this was for him. “He didn’t like cars, tools, or sports. He loved to garden, and considered himself very nurturing,” Kawas recalls. “He felt secure in who he was now as an older gentleman, but realized how much these stereotypes impacted him when he was younger. He had felt he needed to be something he wasn't.” For Kawas, Trickle Up Effect is ultimately about seeing the value of everyone’s authenticity. “My greatest hope when teaching is that I can inspire folks to see the value in authenticity and to cherish it, both theirs and others” she says. “I want them to leave with permission to explore who they are, to live in their truth, and to encourage and honor the space for others to do the same.” For more information on SAFE’s Trickle Up Effect see our website  or email okawas@safecoalitionma.org .

SAFE is hard at work preparing our 2024 spring gala event, to be held at Lakeview Pavilion in Foxboro on May 1. The event will bring together community members interested in celebrating our growth and impact over the last year and joining its mission in the year ahead.     Former Patriots outside linebacker and local resident Rob Ninkovich will be this year’s honored speaker. Ninkovich consistently uses his public platform to emphasize the importance of mental health and youth wellness, including speaking events, podcast appearances, and a video series on mental health awareness for Optum Health.     “Rob is an active, engaged member of our community,” says SAFE board member Lindsay Semas. “Whenever a community member, especially one with an amplified voice, invests in causes aligned to SAFE’s mission, it is a win.”     The gala will include messages from SAFE’s co-founders and board members. It will also host live and silent auctions with all proceeds from the event going to SAFE’s nonprofit work. SAFE has seen a sharp increase in engagement over the last year, with call volume quadrupling from 2022 to 2023. Levine credits a rising awareness of SAFE’s work in the community along with the rising prevalence of key issues. "We know that the need for mental health and substance use resources–especially for teens and families–are at an all-time high,” Levine says. “We are so thankful that our community trusts us at SAFE to walk with them through this chapter of their lives.”    With SAFE’s scale growing, this year’s gala is a celebration of advancement and impact. “The scale of this gala is five times larger than last year’s,” says Semas. “It's a testament to the journey of our organization. Ongoing investment by community members and businesses is what is needed to keep support in place. It’s a joint investment and growth equation."

March welcomes the arrival of SAFE’s new meeting space and home to many of our Family Recovery Center gatherings. But how much do you know about SAFE’s Family Recovery Center? The concept of a family recovery center began in 2019 and doors opened in January 2023. Since that time, FRC programs have supported over 1,000 attendees. The FRC is founded on the principle that substance use disorder (SUD) is a family illness, and families need their own recovery separate and distinct from the loved one who is battling SUD. Jim Derick, co-founder of SAFE and Director of the FRC, saw a need for allaying the isolating effects of mental illness and SUD on everyone involved. “As a dad with a son that had suffered from SUD for years, I was keenly aware of the anxiety, stress and impact of this illness on the family,” Derick says. “Many families initially feel they are at fault for their loved one’s illness. At the FRC they find that this is not the case and importantly that they are not alone.” Recognizing that the process of recovery for any family is different for everyone, FRC provides more than a dozen pathways to access support and wellness. In addition to our support groups, families can access compassionate and judgment-free quiet space, social activities, self-care training, and health and wellness training. The FRC’s offerings are designed as a supplemental resource to traditional clinical care, which SAFE CEO Jen Levine says makes them first in class in the region. “Peer work is just as important as clinical work,” says Levine. “It’s what makes our support a unique, whole-person, whole-family style of care.” The FRC's support groups rely on trained volunteer peer leaders with shared lived experience of the topic. Families Anonymous, The Ripple Effect (an adult sibling support circle), Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Artists’ etc. and Peer Support all honor the crucial role that shared experience can play in witnessing and holding space for a person’s grief, emotional processing, and ongoing support. Derick says by treating the individual as just one part of an entire system in need of healing, spaces like FRC offer critical paths toward recovery. “We know that SUD is a family illness, “ says Derick. “Without treatment, the impact on the family and its individual members can be devastating. Statistics show that the individual with SUD has a greater chance of maintaining their recovery when the family of origin is pursuing its own recovery.” Most recently, the SAFE Cafe was launched offering additional opportunities for support and connection. Every Friday 8:30-noon, SAFE Cafe is open for coffee and conversation. And the Cafe After Dark series offers open mic performance art and safe and sober space for everyone in the community to enjoy. Cafe After Dark runs May 11th, August 3rd and October 5th.  With offerings every week, SAFE is making a measurable impact in the mental wellness of our community. As one member of Families Anonymous said, “This support group has changed my life.” Explaining how they learned how to set boundaries and seek guidance, they said the group helped them heal. “I learned that my loved one needs to have their own experience and that I am there to love [them],” they said. For more on the Family Recovery Center and a full list of SAFE’s support services, visit our Support Groups page  and Community Events Calendar . With questions or more information, email info@safecoalitionma.org .

SAFE Coalition’s ongoing school partnership program is helping hundreds of local teens better understand their decisions related to substance use.  An alternative to traditional school suspension policies, Up in Smoke’s diversion-based program invites students for three full-day, in-person, small group classes. With trained staff who meet in-person with five students at a time, making Up in Smoke the only program of its kind in the region. Founded in 2022, the program has logged over seven hundred hours helping more than 130 teens seek a recovery plan for the use of nicotine, marijuana and other controlled substances. Emma Kelley, SAFE’s Director of Wellness, says emphasis on connection rather than suspension is the program’s key to success. “Instead of taking away their community, we offer them a chance to create a community with other students and explore their coping mechanisms,” she says. Up in Smoke builds on the highly regarded Stanford curriculum to help students discover freedom and self-respect through daily habits. According to Kelley, coursework is designed in a way that “gives students a chance to think critically about the reasons behind why they are using substances, and to build tools they can use to cope with difficult situations in their life.”  Participants in the program report that the course provides greater perspective and a sense of camaraderie. "I felt very safe here,” says one program graduate, “I never feel comfortable sharing anything with my parents or therapists but I really felt comfortable here." “Up in Smoke” arrives at a critical moment in Massachusetts, where  legislation passed in 2022  calls on public schools to use alternatives to suspension that “re-engage the student in the learning process.” Jen Knight-Levine, CEO and founder of SAFE, values Up in Smoke’s alignment with the requirements of Law C.71. “We are thrilled that The Mass Department of Secondary and Elementary Ed values the practices of restorative justice, social-emotional wellness, and mediation as we at SAFE do,” she says. “These requirements enhance every child’s ability to learn decision-making and buffer the impact suspensions can have on a child’s success.” While other programs encourage behavioral change through online coursework, Up in Smoke values true growth and self reflection through a highly interactive face-to-face approach.  Any student may be referred to the “Up in Smoke” program. To refer a student for an upcoming session, visit our  info page . School administration interested in bringing Up In Smoke to your school for the 2024-25 school year can  learn more here  or email  info@safecoalitionma.org .