THE VOICE
November 2024
LEADERSHIP LETTER
Dear Friends of Vinfen,
As the holiday season draws near, we are reminded of the incredible power of gratitude—a power that transforms not only the lives of those who receive, but also the lives of those who give.
Working at Vinfen is truly a professional highlight for me, and I feel profoundly grateful to be part of our mission. I am fortunate to collaborate daily with passionate professionals deeply committed to transforming lives.
My career path to Vinfen has been anything but a straight line. After spending 27 years in local broadcast news—including 20 years as a meteorologist at WCVB—I transitioned into leading dynamic non-profit fundraising and communications teams. I’m thrilled to bring that experience to Vinfen, where our work is changing lives in ways that deeply inspire me.
When you give to Vinfen, you are doing far more than contributing funds—you are creating healthier, more vibrant futures for the individuals we serve. Your generosity fuels our mission, allowing us to impact lives in tangible, lasting ways.
With every donation, you are helping to improve health outcomes through our Health and Wellness Fund, empowering people to lead healthier, more fulfilling lives. You are also helping us close the digital divide through our Tech Navigators program, which gives individuals the tools and resources they need to succeed in an increasingly digital world. But most importantly, you are building a stronger, more compassionate community—a community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
As we enter the season of giving, you’ll likely receive many year-end appeals from various organizations. I sincerely hope you will generously act on the one you receive from Vinfen. Your support this year can help us extend our reach even further, transforming lives in the ways that matter most. I invite you to join us again in making a difference!
With gratitude and hope,
David W. Brown
Vice President of Communications and Development
JOIN US FOR GATEWAYMOVES
Join Us January 16 for GatewayMoves: New Year, New Spaces
Let’s face it: there’s nothing more awkward than when friends or family move into a new home and hit you up to help them relocate. The mere thought of carrying heavy boxes of books or having to pivot a couch up two flights of stairs is enough to send a shiver up the spine.
Thankfully, you can support Gateway Arts’ upcoming move in a way that promises to be much easier on the knees and back—you’re cordially invited to join us for GatewayMoves: New Year, New Spaces, a special fundraising event taking place January 16.
At the event, you can check out Gateway’s new digs, while grooving to the music of DJ Dayglow, enjoying delicious bites from Chef Ana Sortun of Sofra Café, and sipping reds and whites from Vineyard Roads and beers from Sam Adams.
We’ll be honoring State Representative Tommy Vitolo with the Beverly Bernson Award, and guests will have the chance to do some shopping to help decorate their own walls with a one-night-only Juried Moving Sale of artwork by Gateway artists.
Tickets for this special evening are $250, and proceeds will be used to help transform this new, raw space into state-of-the-art studios for the Gateway community. Sponsorships at various levels are also available to help support this endeavor.
For more information, contact Nick Kane at
617-734-1577 x29 or kanen@vinfen.org.
FAMILY CELEBRATION
A Grand Night for Vinfen Families
On October 24, more than 350 members of the extended Vinfen community came together for Vinfen’s 17th Annual Family Celebration. The event’s theme was “The Power of Partnerships,” and the special evening recognized the achievements of exceptional Vinfen staff, the creative talents of a number of persons we support, and the important role families play in Vinfen’s delivery of top-quality, impactful services.
Those who joined us at the Four Points Sheraton in Norwood were welcomed by Vinfen President & CEO Jean Yang, and our host for the evening, WCVB NewsCenter 5’s Anchor and Medical Reporter Jessica Brown. Guests enjoyed a delicious dinner and were entered into raffles for a number of special door prizes. Other highlights of the evening included the presentation of the Public Official of the Year Award to Dr. Kiame Mahaniah, undersecretary for health at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services; and an inspiring address by our fantastic keynote speakers, Mark X. and John Cronin, the father-and-son entrepreneurs behind the tremendously successful clothing company John’s Crazy Socks.
At the event, we were also delighted to announce the winners of our 5th Annual Literary & Artistic Contest, which celebrated amazing works of art and creative writing by individuals served by Vinfen programs, with Professional and Amateur categories for both. This year’s winners were:
Professional Artistic: Chuck Johnson, Matthew Treggiari, Don Falletti
Amateur Artistic: Joseph Pessa, Scott Ayles, Robert Prout
Professional Literary: Michael Natale, Geno Doe
Amateur Literary: Robert Richardson, Alana Haun, Jerome Mason
The evening’s centerpiece was the presentation of staff and family awards to individuals nominated for their outstanding contributions to the Vinfen community. This year’s Staff Merit Awards went to: Joseph Ashley, Henry Barkarr, Mikaela Belmont, Sharon Burke-Prescott, Paul Campbell, The Community Support Services Day Habilitation (CSSDH) Team, Donia Derisme, Amy Downing, Jacey Furtado, Jamie Jackson, Jeremiah Kargbo, Charlotte Lakes, Patricia Lewis, Patricia Middelmann, Constance Osahon, Michael Placido, Kerry Sullivan, Obed Swaray, Nichole Taylor, and Terry Thuo.
A pair of special honors were also honored to Vinfen individuals: Jonathan “Jonny” Walker received the Helen Fantasia-Arraj Staff Recognition Award, while the Craig Smith Self-Advocate Award went to Barbara Brown, a longtime artist with Gateway Arts in Brookline and a founding member of Vinfen’s Metro Boston Self Advocacy group.
Finally, we were proud to present a number of Family Recognition Awards to families whose exceptional spirit of collaboration and support with Vinfen staff has enriched the lives of their loved ones and other individuals served by our programs. Our gratitude and congratulations to Family Recognition Award winners Diane Lawson; Troylene Ali; April, Audrey, and Lindsay Tessman; Sara and Gulrez Arshad; The DeVico Family; and The O’Mally Family.
VINFEN HONORED
Vinfen Named One of the Top 100 Woman-Led Businesses in Massachusetts
Our organization received a wonderful accolade in November, when Vinfen was included on the annual list of the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts for 2024, ranking in at #40. The list was created by nonprofit The Women's Edge—an organization established to connect, support and advance women business leaders—and is published annually in the Women & Power issue of The Boston Globe Magazine.
In selecting the businesses that made the list, The Women’s Edge examined companies’ 2023 revenue or operating budget as well as other variables, including number of full-time employees in the state, workplace and management diversity, and innovative projects.
On November 1, Vinfen President and CEO Jean Yang attended a breakfast honoring the Top 100 women-led businesses alongside other women from Vinfen’s leadership team. We are proud to be honored among so many other women-led organizations and impactful leaders who are creating a wide range of opportunities for our workforce and generating billions of dollars in revenue – a true force in driving the Commonwealth’s economy.
HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS
This Holiday Season, Your Gift to Vinfen Can Change Lives
As we reflect on the challenges and triumphs of this past year, all of us at Vinfen are reminded of the powerful impact that our extended community of supporters has on the lives of those in our many programs. Thanks to your generosity, we are able to build homes, provide care, and create communities for individuals we serve—individuals like Pat.
Since moving into Vinfen’s new group residence in Haverhill for individuals with brain injuries and mental health conditions, Pat has found more than just a place to live—she’s found a home. “It’s really the closest thing to living in your own home,” she says with a smile. Her laughter brings warmth and joy to everyone around her, a testament to how much this environment has transformed her life.
But Pat’s journey to Vinfen wasn’t easy. Before joining our community, she lived in a long-term nursing care facility where she lost dozens of friends during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a dark time, but even in her pain, Pat found ways to bring comfort to others, creating a memorial garden for those who were lost. After three long years of waiting, Pat finally received the call that a place was available at Vinfen’s new residence, where she has flourished.
The support of the extended Vinfen community helps us provide safe and supportive environments for people like Pat. Today, in addition to having a home where she can live with dignity, Pat is a member of Vinfen’s Point After Clubhouse, where she pursues her passion for art and even plays in a jug band that brings joy to nursing home residents.
Most importantly, Pat has rediscovered her sense of purpose. She is now advocating for others, working to secure funding for additional resources for her community. “I was in a black hole,” she says, “but today, I smile a lot more.”
Generous supporters like you play a critical, integral part in the success of our mission of transforming lives together. In making a year-end donation to Vinfen, you will ensure more stories of transformation like Pat’s, and with your support, we can bring more people out of the darkness and into the light of joy and possibility.
We ask you to please consider making a tax-deductible gift today by clicking the button below, and we thank you for your continued support of Vinfen and the essential, life-changing work we’re privileged to do each day!
VINFEN IN THE COMMUNITY
Collaborative Model Brings Vinfen and Other Community Providers to the Table
Vinfen’s Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC) in Lowell represents a critical resource for individuals struggling with urgent mental health and substance use conditions. The continuum of care that we offer through the CBHC is significant and comprehensive, but occasionally, there are particularly complex cases where the input of our partners in the human services sector can be invaluable.
When such cases present themselves, Vinfen can bring them to Lowell’s Situation Table (also known as a HUB), a risk-based rapid triage model that unites multiple human services providers to discuss individuals and/or families facing a specific threshold of Acutely Elevated Risk. The Situation Table is comprised of representatives from public safety agencies, public health agencies, service providers, and other community partners.
Locally, the Lowell Situation Table includes a mix of public and nonprofit organizations, many of whom—such as the Lowell Fire Department, Lowell Police Department, Lowell House Recovery and Addiction Treatment, Lowell Health Department, Trinity EMS, and Vinfen—are members of the City of Lowell Community Opioid Outreach Program (CO-OP). Other key participants in the Situation Table include the Department of Children and Families (DCF), the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), and the Department of Mental Health (DMH).
Per the model, an individual or family at Acutely Elevated Risk would be referred to the Situation Table to consider possible interventions before a crisis occurs. Acutely Elevated Risk describes a state where an individual is recognized to be in a position of risk to themselves and/or others, and that the risk is heightened to such a degree that a quick response is deemed necessary.
Table participants collaborate and discuss the identified risk factors and possible services, identify a team of appropriate agencies to attempt to locate the individual or family, and connect them to services or provide other interventions to address the Acutely Elevated Risk present in this situation.
“The collaborative resources offered by the Situation Table have been hugely helpful for all of the organizations involved in providing needed supports to people at Acutely Elevated Risk,” says Daniela Johnson, CBHC director. “Each of us have encountered specific cases that can be confounding, and having this model allows us to pull in anyone who could potentially be of help. Working together as a community, we’ve worked out the right combinations of services that have made a difference for people who need them.”
VINFEN FILM FESTIVAL 2025
Premiering this Spring: The 2025 Vinfen Film Festival!
Movie lovers, get your popcorn ready—Vinfen is excited to announce that the date and venue have been set for our annual Vinfen Film Festival! The festival, entering its 18th year, will be taking place March 15, 2025, and is returning to the site of last year’s popular event: GBH Studios in Boston.
Last year, more than 300 guests joined us for an afternoon of inspiring, thought-provoking feature-length and short films, and panel discussions with filmmakers, human services professionals, and individuals with lived experience. The Vinfen Film Festival is our organization’s signature event, and uses the power of film to raise awareness, educate our community, and fight prejudice and discrimination often faced by people who have mental health conditions, intellectual, developmental and/or physical disabilities, brain injuries, and behavioral health challenges.
We’re also pleased to announce that we’ve confirmed the three feature films we’ll be screening this March:
- The Ride Ahead: From father-son co-directors Dan & Samuel Habib, The Ride Ahead is the feature-length version of the Emmy Award-winning New York Times Op-Doc My Disability Roadmap. The film follows Samuel, whose goals of living on his own, going to college, starting a career, and finding love are pretty typical for a 21-year-old. However, all of these are complicated by the genetic disability he lives with. A turning point comes when he starts talking to disabled adults who have been through all he is going through now. And when he begins to channel their insights, a roadmap for himself, and for other young adults like him, begins to take shape.
- Being Michelle: This award-winning feature-length documentary film follows the astonishing journey of a deaf woman with autism who survived incarceration and abuse under unimaginable circumstances by a system that refused to accommodate her needs. Michelle’s trajectory changed when she met Kim Law, a blind volunteer life coach who teaches classes to people in prison. Ultimately, Being Michelle is a story of redemption about the bonds between women committed to thriving in a broken system, who are forging a path to healing that can only come through facing the truth and communicating it together.
- The Great Depresh: Acclaimed Massachusetts comedian Gary Gulman candidly reflects on his struggles with depression, in a film that intersperses stand-up performance with documentary interludes that provide insight into his mental health journey.
Additions to the festival line-up will be announced in the months to come, along with ticket information, including on-sale dates. Please watch future issues of the VOICE for more info, or visit www.vinfen.org/film-festival. We hope to see you on March 15!
VINFEN VOICES
By Krista Cormier
In late November 2015, I started my recovery journey at the Plymouth Bay Clubhouse. This is where I rebuilt my life after many years of mental health challenges.
At that time, I was living with my elderly father. While trying to access my own resources with Social Security and food stamps, we were surviving off his $1400/month income—I was personally on a budget of $5/week.
I was struggling with debt from a spending addiction, and on the brink of bankruptcy with a car that was in disrepair and, ultimately, repossessed. I was also in early substance recovery from prescription pill abuse, and on probation in mental health court.
As much as I needed my father’s support with these challenges, he also needed me as a live-in caregiver—his health was declining from non-alcoholic cirrhosis and stage 3 kidney failure. I cared for him until his passing in January 2018.
The Plymouth Bay House helped me realize mental health conditions can affect all walks of life, and that it is OK to reach out for help. With their help, I learned more about my condition and coping skills.
I enrolled in online classes at Fisher College and was able to use the club’s Education Unit each day to complete my psychology classes. While in the Education Unit, I helped my peers with their homework assignments or learning basic computer skills—this helped me realize I had an affinity for providing peer support.
Shortly after I graduated, Plymouth Bay’s then-employment coordinator saw a job opening at Vinfen’s Fall River Recovery Connection Center for a community connector. I had been out of the workforce for a couple of years, after being "burned" by many bosses. Still, I interviewed… and I was offered a position!
I knew this was the right place, as I had already seen how well Vinfen treats their employees and helps support their overall health and wellness—something I’d never experienced in my working life.
Today, I have been at the RCC since September 2017, which is the longest I have been in any position in my life. The work is challenging, yet rewarding—very much like the work done by the Plymouth Bay staffers who have seen my transformation!
I‘m proud to say that I have been out of the court system since July 2017 and have been living on my own for 6-and-a-half years with my cats, Willow and Franco.
FROM THE CEO
President and CEO Jean Yang was the featured guest on the latest installment of Inside the Corner Office, a video interview series produced by the New England Council (NEC). The NEC is a nonpartisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England formed to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the region.
Hosted by NEC President Jim Brett, the 40-minute sit-down saw Jean discussing various topics, including her professional background in healthcare and human services, Vinfen’s work, and the critical importance of investing in community-based services to expand access for those who need them.
SHARE YOUR VOICE
Do you have questions about Vinfen and our services? Thoughts about any of the stories you just read? Suggestions about things you’d like to see in future newsletters? Wondering how you can help support Vinfen’s work? We want to hear from you! Feel free to drop a line to Josh Wardrop at wardropj@vinfen.org with your feedback and questions. And thank you for reading The VOICE!
Established in 1977, Vinfen is a nonprofit health and human services organization and a leading provider of community-based services to individuals with mental health conditions, intellectual and developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and behavioral health challenges. Our services and advocacy promote the recovery, resiliency, habilitation, and self-determination of the people we serve.
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