Watch the recording of our live event on September 11th, 2021 for the 5th annual Matt’s Mission Celebrates Recovery. This year we made our safe and socially distanced return to Veterans Park in Jewett City. Listen to incredible speakers sharing real stories of addiction and recovery!
Check out the live stream of the Awakened Soul Stories podcast episode featuring Kelly Barrett (President of Matt’s Mission), and Miranda Mahoney (Griswold Pride)!
Join us on September 11th, 2021 for the 5th annual Matt’s Mission Celebrates Recovery. This year we make our safe and socially distanced return to Veterans Park, at 68 Ashland Street in Jewett City. Free T-Shirts and Narcan (while supplies last)! Win awesome prizes in the annual Matt’s Mission Raffle! Listen to incredible speakers sharing
New Resources for Parents, Educators, and Youth Leaders to Prevent Youth Opioid Misuse Published June 08. 2021 9:00AM on TheDay.com By Jan Tormay, Special to the Times Matthew Barrett died in November 2015 at the age of 32 because he was too ashamed to seek help, his mother, Kathleen Dufficy, said. “Because of the stigma involved, Matthew
New Resources for Parents, Educators, and Youth Leaders to Prevent Youth Opioid Misuse April 1, 2021, Griswold, CT — Today, Griswold PRIDE and Matt’s Mission launched the “Opioid Prevention Campaign” in partnership with the Addiction Policy Forum. The Campaign provides resources for parents and educators to prevent youth opioid misuse. With the rise in overdoses and
Enjoy this special presentation on Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) by our February 2021 Speaker of the Month, Kerry Bilda of UCFS Click Here To Watch The Full Presentation On Vimeo Join us next month for a special presentation by March 2020 Speaker of the Month, Sound Healer Kelvin Young. Questions? For more information on how
In response to Covid, Matt’s Mission will be partnering with Griswold PRIDE and featuring a speaker each month to provide information on various treatment resources. This month Stephen Feathers grabbed the mic to share some information about the services offered by Perception Programs, Inc, such as the Syringe Service Program. Watch this month’s video below!
Griswold, CT – Kathleen Dufficy and Kelly Barrett of Matt’s Mission were among a small group of local community organizations that met with U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, during a Zoom roundtable Friday to discuss how they’re coping with what Courtney characterized as the collision of the opioid crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. Check
Griswold, CT – Connecticut has seen a 22 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths in 2020. At this rate, CT will surpass last year’s record of nearly 1,200 drug overdose deaths, a statistic that didn’t sit well with Matt’s Mission and Griswold Pride. Overdoses frequently occur in public places, but many businesses aren’t prepared to respond or even identify one. PRIDE
Griswold Pride has partnered with Matt’s Mission on a new initiative with Matt’s Mission to make Griswold a recovery friendly community and prevent overdose deaths. Check out this video from Miranda Nagle of Griswold Pride, feeaturing Matt’s Mission President & Founder, Kathleen Dufficy and Mike Minarsky of SNSN Radio. Visit Griswold Pride on Facebook and
Griswold, CT – Griswold, CT – In January of this year, PRIDE received a Connecticut State Opioid Response Initiative – Community Mini Grant, from SERAC with support from the CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This $4000 grant provides communities with funding to build
Veterans Park, in Griswold, was the epicenter of an annual celebration of recovery, on Sept. 7. This is the third year that organizers with Matt’s Mission, a nonprofit whose mission is to end the stigma of drug addiction, sponsored the event. Huge posters with the faces of those who had died from opioids surrounded the
By her own admission, Inez Richards spent four decades struggling with addiction. “I grew up in jail. I grew up in the streets,” she said. “I was in a place that was so dark, so lonely… The pain got great enough that I wanted to change, but I didn’t know how.” Now, Richards said, she
It wasn’t the usual festive carnival atmosphere at Veterans Memorial Park in Jewett City on Sept. 8, despite the array of tables, tents, and decorations. It was a celebration of a different sort. “We want to celebrate and give hope to recovery [from drug addiction],” said organizer Kathleen Dufficy. Her organization, Matt’s Mission, hosted the
Griswold — Kathleen Dufficy has thought about her son Matthew Barrett every day since he died on Nov. 23, 2015, of injuries he suffered in a drug-related car crash. Though Barrett, 32, lost his life as a result of an addiction he’d struggled with for 12 years, Dufficy is passionate in her belief that there is hope for others. She formed a group called Matt’s Mission, which is seeking
I have never felt such intense love until the births of my children, Kelly and Matthew. A unique bond was instantly formed and from that day forward, everything in my life had changed. I loved being a mother, and I especially loved being THEIR mom. No two children are alike, each having their uniquely wonderful
Kathleen Dufficy isn’t sure how her son’s addiction to opioids began, but she is painfully aware of how it ended — with his death in a car accident last November while under the influence, at the age of 32. “I had to channel my grief into something positive,” said Dufficy. “I did not want him
GRISWOLD – A Griswold mother is hoping to turn a family tragedy into something positive. Last November, Kathleen Dufficy’s son died in a car crash. Matthew Barrett was 32 and Dufficy learned he had heroin, methadone and klonopin in his system at the time of the crash. But the findings weren’t a surprise to her.