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JUNE 2019 NEWSLETTER

SEND US YOUR IDEAS

This newsletter is compiled of information and ideas from across the state. We value all voices that wish to be at the table, so please send us your stories, creations, ideas or anything that you feel would be relevant to share within this monthly newsletter. This is a platform for the peer-to-peer support workforce in Massachusetts (and beyond).
Contact MUCH

MUCH Elsewhere

F O L L O W on F A C E B O O K
E M A I L
MUCHnetwork.org

COMING SOON...

JUNE UPDATE

Dear participants of the MUCH Network,

You may notice a slightly more sparse newsletter this month, however, we are excited to announce that we are in the developmental stages of putting up a hub website for MUCH at: MUCHnetwork.org

With this will come more consistent up-to-date information regarding the MUCH Network and in addition to our monthly newsletter. There will be blog posts, an interactive calendar and workforce discussion board to increase information sharing and networking opportunities. We also envision an extensive and evolving resource list in relation to the peer-to-peer support in Massachusetts.

We will be sending out an announcement through this email blast to let you know when the site is launched at the end of June. With that we will also be launching a MUCH network calendar for coalition activities. Thank you for all of your patience, we look forward to connecting!

IN SOLIDARITY
Jillian Aucoin
Title: Rebirth
By: Richard Donald
Vist the System Survivors Movement Information Site
Visit the NARPA site for more information or to register
Visit the iNAPs site for more information or to register

About Afiya

Afiya is based in a residential neighborhood, .3 miles from a school and within walking distance from a    supermarket, bike path and two bus stops.  The house offers three bedrooms (one on the first floor and two on the second), two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room and other community spaces including a partially finished basement.   Other features of the house include an accessibility ramp leading to the rear and side entrances, an accessible  shower in the first-floor bathroom and a large back yard.  
 
 What You Can Expect While Staying at Afiya:
· Your own private bedroom (with unlimited access to common spaces)
· The ability to come and go as you choose (all stays are completely voluntary)
· Access to basic community food items (and the ability to store your own food items if you prefer)
· Access to visitors (may be in designated spaces to protect the privacy of others)
· An opportunity to rest and re-group (while we might talk with you about a schedule that could best support your hopes and needs, you determine your wake, sleep and eating times) 
· Access to 1:1 peer support (as well as the opportunity to connect as a group or individually with others staying at the peer respite as you desire)*
· Access to a variety of items including books, art supplies and more
· An opportunity to learn about and/or access local resources
· Uninterrupted access to your own existing supports and scheduled activities(e.g., If you have a therapist you like and want to see or a job that you wish to keep working, you may do so throughout your stay)
· Support to brainstorm, take action and establish next steps for when you leave the respite
* It's important to note that your experience at Afiya may vary depending on a number of factors including who else is staying at the house and how busy things are at that time.  Overall, our philosophy is that not all support has to or should come from someone who is working at Afiya to someone staying at Afiya.  Rather, we believe that support and healing connections can develop in many directions, including between two people staying at the house.  However, how that actually plays out at any given moment depends in the house.  Some people go to look for conversation and active exploration of ideas, while others may go primarily to get rest and quiet.  Similarly, while it is fair to expect at least some 1:1 support time during each visit, the needs of everyone staying in the house together will shape what that looks like from day to day.
 
Limitations:
· If you take medications, please be reminded that we are not able to hold or handle them.  However, we will provide you with a storage box to keep them yourself or you can have friends or family visit to help you as needed
· We are generally not able to accommodate stays longer than seven days
· We do not offer any clinical supports such as therapy or psychiatric services(though we may be able to help you connect to those services if you desire)
· Our ability to offer transportation is limited. While we will do our best to be creative in working with you to get where you need to go, our ability to offer transportation is limited by budget and time.
 
Accessing Afiya
The most commonly asked question we hear about Afiya is 
'how do I refer someone,' or 'how do I get in?'
We don't use 'referral' language, but the process for accessing Afiya is pretty straight forward.  As we say about so many things, it's a conversation.
If you are someone who is interested in staying at Afiya, give us a call.  We'll share with you some information about what Afiya offers, as well as what isn't available.  We'll ask you what's going on for you in the moment and how you hope Afiya might be helpful.  Then we'll talk through how the fit works for you and for the house, and together, we'll make a decision. 
Here's about what you can expect from start to finish:
· You call Afiya and inquire about staying there.
· If there's not space, the person you're speaking with will let you know that and will offer to talk with you about other potential resources.
· If there is space, the person you're speaking with will give you an overview of the process and ask you if you are comfortable sharing a little bit about what's going on for you in the moment.
· During the course of the conversation, you will be offered an opportunity to ask questions and will be provided some basic information about what to expect at Afiya.
· You will also be asked what you are hoping your stay at Afiya would look like.
· Once you and the person you're speaking with feel like you're both satisfied with the information that has been shared with one another, they will ask you for your thoughts on whether or not Afiya still seems like a good fit for you.
· At that point, the person you're speaking with will bring a third person into the converastion.  (This is NOT intended to be a time when two people go off and talk about you behind a closed door.  Instead, this is just intended as a back-up to make sure that all questions have been asked and enough information has been given in both directions and that everyone is fully supported in their role.)
· If there are any follow up questions or clarifications, they will be asked at this time.
· You will then talk through a decision together about coming into the house.
· If you will not be coming to the house, you will be offered an opportunity to talk about other potential resources.
· If you will be coming to the house, then you will have the opportunity to talk through a plan for coming to Afiya (time, how you'll get there, etc.) and reminders of what to bring (clothes, personal care items, preferred food items, etc.)
 
If you're a provider, family member or friend of someone who you think should come to stay at Afiya, we will talk with you briefly and answer any general questions you might have. However, we wont be able to talk with you about anyone other than yourself and your own curiosities. In order to talk about someone's particular situation, we will need to speak to that person directly.
The number to reach Afiya is (413) 570-2990.  Please do be aware that we may not always be able to answer the phone if we're on another call or spending time with people in the house.  Just try back in a bit and we'll answer as soon as we can.


To learn more about AFIYA you can also check our their website at:
http://www.westernmassrlc.org/afiya
 
Register for the July training here
Register for the August training here
Critical Issues in History and Their Implications for Today

The Dawn of 20th Century America:
Freedom, Conflict, and Expanding Conquest

By: Richard Donald
 
            A decade of domestic strife ended amid the blare of martial music and the waving of flags. The Spanish-American War drowned out the calls for social reform that fueled the Populist politics of the 1890s. During that decade, angry farmers facing hard times looked to Farmer’s Alliances to fight for their vision of economic democracy, workers staged bloody battles across the country to assert their rights, and women like Frances Willard preached temperance and suffrage (Roark, 2017, p. 533). 
            The final decade of the 19th century proved to be one of America’s most tumultuous eras. Indeed, the 1890s were characterized by continuous social-political contention between wealthy capitalists and working-class citizens. These points of contention involved Civil liberties for women, Fair labor mandates for industrial workers, and economic equality for farmers. The struggles that ensued because of these issues gave rise to a new “. . . People’s Party” whose mission was to affect socio-economic equality for the underprivileged majority of American citizens (Roark, 2017, p. 512). This was to be accomplished through calling for government intervention to curb capitalists’ power (Roark, 2017, p. 514). However, although the movement did achieve some success, it inevitably fell short of its desired objectives (Roark, 2017, p. 533). Thus, the specter of unbridled corporate power, driven by ideals of lazier-fair, American expansionism, and war propaganda overshadowed the torch of domestic liberty (Roark, 2017, p. 531).  
            Although American women proved to be hard working citizens either at home, in factories, or both, they were paid less, and denied the right to vote. Furthermore, many women believed that drunkenness was alienating them from the men on whom they depended for support and companionship. Consequently, the struggle for both women’s domestic liberties, and social equality became quite vigorous during the 1890s. This was chiefly due to the efforts of Frances Willard of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Indeed, under Willard’s leadership WCTU replaced prayer with activism as its primary agency of change (Roark, 2017, p. 520). Although temperance and Suffrage were important, Willard and the WCTU also campaigned against employment disparities such as the “. . . dreadful. . .” working conditions in textile mills where many young women were employed (Roark, 2017, p. 520). Because Willard spoke convincingly against the so-called “. . . Cult of domesticity. . .” and its negative impact on women, children, and men alike, her rhetoric resonated favorably with reformers such as the Prohibition Party, the Knights of Labor, and the People’s Party; in this way; she contributed significantly to a “. . . broad reform coalition. . .” (Roark, 2017, p. 521). Thus, many American women rejected their statuses as second-class citizens, and adopted roles as leaders of social reform.
            The Social-Darwinist ideals of capitalists, and lazier-fair politics of 19th century government constituted wide-spread inequality for most American industrial workers; for their work-day hours were far too many, and their earnings were proportionately far too few. This inevitably led to the “. . . ‘labor wars’. . .” of the 1890s (Roark, 2017, p. 515). One such war has been dubbed the Cripple Creek miner’s Strike of 1894 in Colorado. In response to mine owner’s intent to lengthen work-days to ten hours, the workers collaborated with the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) “. . . to strike all mines running more than eight hour shifts” (Roark, 2017, p. 517). This movement received support from local small business and grocery store owners who provided credit to miners during long-standing strikes. The movement’s most crucial support, however, had come from the recently elected Populist, Governor Davis H. Waite. Because of Waite’s arbitration, and perhaps more significantly his refusal to use the State’s military against striking miners, the mine’s owners reluctantly conceded to the notion of eight hour work-days for their employees. Unfortunately, after Waite left office in 1904, mine owners were allowed to employ government and military intervention to defeat the WFM Union, and reassert their own rules concerning mine labor (Roark, 2017, p. 517). Thus, so-called lazier-fair politics permitted social-Darwin-Capitalism to triumph over workers’ equality in places such as Cripple Creek Colorado during the immediate post-19th century.
            Agrarian revolt set the precedence for 19th century social protest against capitalists’ economic monopolies; for Farmers’ Alliances had been fighting for equality since the 1870s. By the 1880s, these local alliances had evolved into two coalitions: The Northwestern Farmers’ Alliance, and the Southern Farmers’ Alliance. Both Western, and Southern farmers had been victimized by railroad owners’ high shipping rates for local produce ‘. . . and rampant land speculation that drove up the price of land” (Roark, 2017, p. 513). In an effort to garner social support, traveling farmers’ spokesmen pleaded their cause to sympathetic working-class citizens across the nation. Furthermore, during a strike against Jay Gould’s Texas and Pacific Railroad, the Southern Farmers’ Alliance “. . . vocally sided with the workers and rushed food and supplies to the strikers” (Roark, 2017, p. 514). This encouraged industrial workers and prohibitionists alike to unite under the Farmers’ Alliance banner. The alliances, however, “. . . faced insurmountable difficulties in running successful cooperatives. . .”; for bankers, manufacturers, merchants, and wholesalers barred their access to credit (Roark, 2017, p. 514). Therefore, even as their movement began to fail socially, farmer’s and their allies tuned their attention to politics for support.
            During 1892, the farmers’ alliances created a new political movement; and from this movement was born the People’s Party, also known as the Populists (Roark, 2017, p. 514). Unlike most Republicans and Democrats of that era, Populists did not support the status-quo of lazier-fair politics. Instead, they valued the ideals of equal socio-political-economic imperatives for all citizens regardless of class. Thus, most farmers, suffragettes, prohibitionists, and industrial workers, at least initially, supported this highly liberal platform. The objectives of this platform included a reclamation of excessive land that had been granted to railroads, a federal credit subsidy for farmers, and “. . . government ownership of the railroads. . . to put an end to discriminatory [shipping] rates” (Roark, 2017, p. 515). In spite of their lofty intentions, however, Populists were sometimes perceived as radical agents of revolution. These fearful sentiments were capitalized upon by many newspaper editors who branded Populists with villainous titles such as “. . . ‘calamity howlers’. . .” (Roark, 2017, p. 523). This sort of negative slander contributed, in part, to the Populist Party’s demise during the Democratic National Convention of 1896 at which the Democrats managed a political coup against them. Therefore, although the People’s Party did, indeed, effect the socio-political dynamics of the 1890s, the lazier-fair status-quo norms, fueled by social-Darwinist ideals, reasserted their dominance of the American homeland; and this dominance soon began to expand across the waters of the known world during the Spanish-American War.
            In retrospect, nobody can know for certain what sort of long-term impact the People’s Party would have affected in American society. The Populists had promised to foster true socio-economic democracy; and they were probably quite sincere in their intent to honor this promise. However, because the events of our history have denied them the chance to prove themselves, the following question remains unanswered: Given the chance, would the Populists have succeeded in curbing the corruption of unbridled capitalism, and the apathy of lazier-fair politics—or would their intervention have inadvertently, yet inevitably, led to a government-sanctioned Socialist Amerika.
 
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