UPCOMING EVENTS

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COVID-19 RESOURCES

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MASSACHUSETTS SUBSTANCE USE HELPLINE

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413Cares

Resources for Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region. Click here.

North Quabbin Community Coalition

Resources and upcoming events in the North Quabbin Region.

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Communities That Care Coalition 

website and resources 

NEED NARCAN?

Click here to email for Narcan.

Emergency Services Resources for Unhoused Individuals

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The PACES CONNECTION

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Grayken Center for Addiction Training & Technical Assistance

Click here to view and/or register for trainings.

GCC Community Engagement and Workshop Events

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Rural SUD Info Center

Click here for resources.

During the Children’s Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin’s 10th annual “Hope, Healing and Help Breakfast” on Friday, speakers looked back on another year and commended the courage of the survivors the organization serves.

“It’s about coming together to stand beside children and families that need us most,” board of directors President Stacy Boron said at the start of the presentation at Greenfield Community College while listeners ate breakfast. “Together we can ensure that children who have faced unimaginable challenges find hope, healing and a brighter future.” In 2024, the nonprofit helped 115 children, who have faced abuse and exploitation, through the investigation process, according to Executive Director Carol Conragan.

Director of Clinical Services Beth Agostino-Evans said she holds between 15 and 20 sessions with families each week, carrying a caseload of 20 to 30 children at a time. Through building relationships with survivors of child abuse and their families, Agostino-Evans said she sees the healing firsthand as “children and families take back their power and their strength.”

During Conragan’s speech, she asked the audience of local legislators, supportive business owners, clinicians and volunteers to participate in an activity. Clipped to the back of their chairs were papers printed with the silhouettes of children above ages in bold type. Conragan asked attendees to unclip the papers from their chairs and stand up when they heard her state the ages. Starting with 5 years old, Conragan called out numbers. By age 18, nearly the entire crowd was standing, creating a sea of silhouettes. “Take a look around the room,” Conragan told the crowd. “What you see represents the 115 traumatized children who were brave enough to come forward and tell their story last year.” She stressed that this number represents only 10% of the projected number of children facing abuse or exploitation based on national statistics, adding, “That means 1,000 children are hiding in the shadows.”

“Children don’t have a voice,” Conragan said in an interview. “[Children] are often a minority, and they don’t have a chance to speak out and protect themselves, so they need grown-ups to do it, and sexually abused and commercially exploited children need extra help, because it’s not a topic that people are comfortable with.” At the start of her speech, Conragan told the crowd, “You here in the room are not shying away from this tough topic, and I am extremely grateful for that.”

Ja’Duke performers sang “Tomorrow” from the musical “Annie” before keynote speaker Ashley Oquendo took the podium. She recounted her childhood of abuse and the relationship with Children’s Advocacy Center family advocate Abby Bliss that helped her finally see healing on the horizon. “I was living through a haze, just going through the motions; numb, disconnected, surviving not living,” Oquendo said. Through emotional, physical, sexual and financial abuse, Oquendo’s father instilled “a kind of fear that creates an invisible cage.” “There was no safe place,” Oquendo said. “In that house, ‘no’ was not allowed.” Oquendo, now a senior in college in Tennessee, said she finally faced exhaustion from years of abuse as a teenager after falling asleep at the wheel. She said the same courage that pulled her to protect her siblings from her father pushed her to seek help. “I expected cold, clinical conversations, paperwork, procedures, but instead I was met with warmth and patience, with safety,” Oquendo said, describing her experience with the Children’s Advocacy Center. “For the first time, I was in a space where my story wasn’t too heavy and where I wasn’t too much.”

Oquendo said Bliss taught her to trust again and not expect toxicity from those with authority.

“To say [Bliss] changed my life would be an understatement,” Oquendo told the crowd. “The Children’s Advocacy Center became more than a safe space; it became a symbol of what’s possible.” She added,” Where silence had been my survival strategy, they gave me a microphone.”

Photos - Greenfield Recorder

UPCOMING OTF COMMITTEE & WORKGROUP MEETINGS

FEATURED EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

MONTHLY WORKSHOP CALENDRS AND WEEKLY STANDING MEETINGS/EVENTS

Franklin County Reentry Center

Always Open! Community Labyrinth in Greenfield

All Recovery Meeting at The RECOVER Project

Mondays Art Guild Meetings

Second Mondays - North Quabbin B.R.R.A.V.V.E. Task Force Meeting

First Tuesday - Dads' Group

Tuesdays Drop-In Knitting & Sewing Sessions

Wednesdays HEROES Study Hub at GCC

First & Third Thursdays Parent Support Group

Thursdays Coffee Hour at the Brick House

Thursdays Beyond Trauma Group in Spanish

In February, FCRN partnered with The United Arc and the Offices of Representative Natalie Blais and Congressman Jim McGovern to host representatives from the Social Security Administration, the Department of Children and Families, and the Child Advocate for the Commonwealth Maria Mossaides for a discussion with grandparents raising grandchildren in Franklin County.

Below please find more information about programs covered at the event, as well as some key links and contact information for the representatives for state and federal agencies and legislative offices that were present.

Office of the Child Advocate: The Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) is an independent executive branch agency with oversight and ombudsperson responsibilities, established by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2008.

The best way to get in touch with the OCA is through the Complaint Line: https://www.mass.gov/guides/oca-complaint-line 

Maria Mossaides, Child Advocate

Department of Children and Families

Regional DCF team:

• Laurie Sullivan, (DCF Western Regional Director) laurie.sullivan@mass.gov 
• Paula Teixeira, (DCF Greenfield Area Office) paula.teixeira@mass.gov 

DCF’s Kinship Navigator : Kinship Navigator is a program of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that assists all kinship caregivers (grandparents and other relatives) with accessing services for themselves and the children they are raising.

Kinshipnavigator@mass.gov   1(844) 924-4KIN   Online referral: https://formstack.io/CF361 

Jennifer Kitchenham, Jennifer.S.Kitchenham@mass.gov 

Commission on the Status of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: The purpose of this Commission is to be a resource to the Commonwealth on issues affecting grandparents raising grandchildren, and relatives, other than parents, raising kin.

On July 8, 2008, the Child Advocate bill was signed into law which included the establishment of the Commission on the Status of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. This legislation calls for a permanent commission on the status of grandparents raising grandchildren which consists of 15 individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to grandparents.

617-748-2454           massgrg@mass.gov         Colleen Pritoni, colleen.pritoni@mass.gov 

Family Resource Centers: Supported by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services and the Department of Children and Families, a Family Resource Center is located in each of the 14 Massachusetts counties. There are currently 33 FRCs.

Here are some of the ways FRCs help families:

• Bring people together for friendship and mutual support
• Strengthen parenting skills
• Respond to family crises
• Link families to services and opportunities
• Help children develop social and emotional skills
• Observe and respond to early warning signs of child abuse and neglect
• Value and support parents

Community Action Family Center  90, Federal Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 (413) 475-1555

Jolanta Rumierz, jolanta.rumierz@mass.gov 

Social Security Administration - Boston Region Office 

• https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/ 
• A full FAQ page is available here: https://www.ssa.gov/faqs/en/ 
• More information about scheduling an appointment with SSA can be found here: https://www.ssa.gov/faqs/en/questions/KA-02771.html 

SSA representatives in Boston office: 

• Kevin Reino (Senior Public Affairs Specialist) bos.rcd@ssa.gov
• Sabrina Feliciano (Public Affairs Specialist) Sabrina.Feliciano@ssa.gov 

Federation for Children with Special Needs

Caregiver to Caregiver Respite Network: https://fcsn.org/c2c/ 

Mary-Beth Landy, Senior Trainer & Family Engagement Manager,  mlandy@fcsn.org 

Below is the information for all of the legislative offices that were present: 

Senator Comerford’s office

• Senator Comerford (jo.comerford@masenate.gov) 
• Elena Cohen (elena.cohen@masenate.gov)
• Jessie Cooley (jessie.cooley@masenate.gov) 

Representative Blais’s office

• Representative Blais (natalie.blais@mahouse.gov) 
• Corinne Coryat (corinne.coryat@mahouse.gov)

Congressman McGovern’s office

• Koby Gardner-Levine (Koby.Gardner-Levine@mail.house.gov) 

Kinship Navigator Brochure

Foster Parent Flyer

Adoption Journeys Brochure

UMASS Brochure - Family Resources Center

Kid's Net Brochure

Mental Health Advocacy Program - FAQs

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Resources

Free English Classes

Free Meals and Essentials at Saints James and Andrews Parish Hall

Come Cook with Franklin County Community Meals Program

Family Self-Sufficiency Program Available

Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Program

Eviction Self-Help Booklets Available in Multiple Languages

Update! Greenfield CSC New Hybrid Operations Change

Beginning Tuesday, 9.3.24, the Greenfield Court Service Center (CSC)services will be in-person and remote: Monday-Thursday, 8:30am-1pm; 2pm-4:30 pm, and Fridays, 8:30-1pm.

For ANY/ALL REMOTE REQUESTS, please contact the Virtual Court Service Center, M-F 9am -2pm, if you do not have an emergency. You can reach them for an intake, Monday-Friday, 9am to 2pm, by Zoom video or telephone as outlined below:

https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1615261140 or Dial (646) 828-7666. Enter the Meeting ID number 1615261140 and then press # #. 

If you have an emergency, and still need remote services, have the court department reach out directly to Greenfield CSC office by email for assistance at greenfieldcsc@jud.state.ma.us.

Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region www.opioidtaskforce.org