(The Reminder) – Learn to Cope, a widespread support network offering hope to those who struggle with addiction, officially opened a west regional community center in Eastworks.
According to Peter Babineau, the director of the west center, Learn to Cope is a family-led support network founded in 2004 by Joanne Peterson in response to the opioid crisis. Since then, Learn to Cope has grown to a membership of 11,000 people and features 25 chapters across the state.
The new center will be a resource for anyone impacted by a loved one’s substance abuse by continuing to offer resources, education, and hope for family members and friends and loved ones who are impacted by substance abuse.
In 2014, 10 years after Learn to Cope was founded in the eastern part of the state in Tauton, the organization expanded to Western Massachusetts when it launched a chapter meeting in Holyoke, followed by one in Pittsfield, then Greenfield. All of these chapters have provided weekly support meetings, overdose prevention education and distribution of the overdose-reversal medication Narcan.
“Nestled right here in the center of Western Massachusetts; [Easthampton] seemed like a perfect spot for Learn to Cope West to open,” said Babineau, during the grand opening celebration on Sept. 22. “Since we’ve gotten here, I’ve felt so much a part of this community.”
During the ceremony, Babineau – a father of someone who struggles with substance abuse – discussed how the inception of Learn to Cope began with an offshoot of a group of women who called themselves “The Porch Girls.” The group started the network because all of them were struggling with family substance use disorder in some capacity.
State. Sen. John Velis spoke during the ceremony about how Learn to Cope is a “gift to Western Massachusetts,” as he described his own journey through sobriety over the past five years. He said the path to recovery needs to be much more holistic and involve the combination of family and friends.
“The people we hurt the most are the people whose last names we share,” said Velis, referring to substance use disorder. “The creation of organizations like Learn to Cope is such a remarkable thing. I am so very humbled and honored for having this set up in a community that I have the privilege of representing.”
State Rep. Dan Carey, who represents Easthampton, Hadley, South Hadley and Granby said that having a space like Learn to Cope is “great news” for Easthampton. He discussed a meeting he sat through at Greenfield Community College, where he learned a good deal about what Learn to Cope was all about.
“Sitting down at that meeting with those folks, I was immediately at ease, and it was so clear the benefit … of Learn to Cope,” said Carey. “To have this space in Hampshire County, in my district and in my hometown … to know that those meetings are going to continue, to know that other people are going to have that experience I had of being so warmly welcomed; it’s just so inspiring.”
To learn more about Learn to Cope and their many locations, people can visit their website: https://learn2cope.org/.