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 […]
Local Businesses Step Up to Carry Life Saving Medication
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 Partners With Matt’s Mission for Narcan Awareness & Education
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 […]
Matt’s Mission Invites Community To Recovery Celebration
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 […]
Matt’s Mission Honors Recovery Advocate Inez Richards
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 […]
Matt’s Mission Event Offers Info, Hope For Recovery
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 […]
Mother’s mission to end addiction stigma continues Saturday in Griswold
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 […]
One Mother Turns Grief Into Action
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 […]
Matt’s Mission Aims To End Drug Addiction Stigma
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 mom on mission to end addiction’s stigma
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. […]
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