A Message from Maria Coutant Skinner, President & CEO
September 30, 2024
Dear friends;
With August marking Overdose Awareness Month and September observing both Recovery Month and Suicide Awareness Month, there is a wearisome intensity to this time of the year. However, finding inspiration and renewal is vital even when you are weary. I’d like to share four experiences that centered me and serve as beautiful examples of courage and community as healing forces for humanity.
The funeral.
I attended the funeral for a beloved local pastor and family friend who was almost 90 at the time of his passing. George will be deeply missed and there is heartache, …there is also cause for celebration of a life well lived. His children and grandchildren tearfully, and with heaps of laughter, shared their remembrances, and the overflowing church burst out with song after song celebrating the immensely beautiful impact of this one, faith filled life. I was struck by the restorative power of a loving community as we surrender and let go.
The Task Force meeting.
You will read a profoundly moving piece from Emmanuelle (Manny) Barreto in this newsletter about his recovery journey. Manny and many others courageously shared their deeply personal stories at the last meeting of the Litchfield County Opiate Task Force. Many discussed how, because there was at least one person who never gave up on them, they are alive today and sharing their unique gifts to make the world a better place. Their testimonials remind each of us of the precious promise of every life.
The Conference.
Joy Pendola and I had the remarkable honor of attending the Alignment for Progress conference at the Kennedy Center where Patrick Kennedy and his team outlined their ambitious goals for 2033: 90% of individuals being screened for mental health conditions or substance use disorders; 90% receiving the evidence-based services and supports they need, and, 90% of those treated being able to manage their symptoms and achieve recovery. In attendance were some of our country’s most influential decision makers – each with a commitment to bringing those goals to fruition. Sitting on the sidelines while others do the heavy lifting is not an option in this work. We all have work to do if we expect to meaningfully change the status quo. More about this can be found here.
The Vigil.
The Overdose vigil in Torrington was held at Coe Park and we shared a transformative experience facilitated by our friend Tim Walsh from Adventure Recovery. After the reading of the names of loved ones lost, we formed a large circle where more than one hundred attendees stood shoulder to shoulder with our lit candles. Tim recognized how hard it is to let go so he counted down and we blew out the candles together. We needed two hands to do the activity in which we held a river stone in our left hand to start. He asked us to think about someone we’ve lost and to fill our hearts with the memories and feelings of that person as we held the stone over our heart. We felt the stone’s cold surface turn to warmth as we clasped it and poured our heart’s contents into it. He then asked us to take a deep breath and exhale all those emotions and thoughts onto our stone, to empty out and let go. Next, he told us to take our right hands and extend them over in front of the person to our right. Together, the entire group passed our stones to the left and received our neighbor’s stones. I felt the weight and warmth of the stone from the woman who hesitantly passed to me as our eyes met and our hands lingered together. I passed my stone to my Dad, a beautiful experience for us both. Each and every person in the park that evening was moved and changed by that sharing. Letting go while honoring the loss is courageous. Witnessing is an honor. Holding another’s pain is a privilege.
We are, all of us, part of a broader community where our hearts can open to give and receive the fullness of our humanity. When we do, we are moved to no longer accept the status quo, we trust and believe that compassionate change is possible and that we are precisely the ones to take on the task and make it happen together. We are cleansed with this life affirming spiritual bath generated from each other’s light from within.
My very best to you always,
Maria Coutant Skinner
President and CEO