HOPE 2026 Workshop Descriptions & Presenter Bios
Workshop A (9:25-10:35am)
A1: From Loss to Leadership: Pregnancy, Substance Use Disorder, and Building a Recovery-Informed Maternal Care System | Presenter: Kassandra Kuzil
What happens when pregnancy and substance use disorder collide—and the system responds with silence, stigma, or fear? In this powerful and solutions-focused session, one mother shares her lived experience of navigating substance use during pregnancy, pregnancy loss, and the isolating weight of stigma. From that deeply personal beginning, the presentation expands into a bold call for systems transformation in maternal health and recovery care across Maine. Participants will explore the structural barriers that prevent early disclosure and engagement in care—and learn how innovative models, including MaineMom’s Harm Reduction Doula pilot program, are reshaping support for pregnant and postpartum individuals. With MaineCare reimbursement on the horizon, this workforce represents a critical opportunity to build sustainable, compassionate infrastructure for families impacted by substance use disorder. Blending story, strategy, and policy insight, this session equips attendees with practical tools to strengthen care systems, expand workforce capacity, and advance recovery-informed maternal health statewide.
A2: Fueling the Mind: How Nutrition and Activity Support Mental Wellbeing | Presenter: Abby Frutchey
Explore the powerful connection between nutrition, physical activity, and mental wellbeing. This session highlights how nutrition, regular movement, and lifestyle choices can enhance mood, reduce stress, and support overall emotional resilience. Participants will gain practical strategies to identify activities to incorporate into daily routines that promote lasting mental and physical wellness.
A3: Celebrating the Journey with Support Groups | Presenters: Laurie Cavanaugh, Juli Campbell, Elias Peirce, Lisa Stoler
In this workshop we will introduce the peer support group concept and share how the peer groups we have participated in have felt meaningful. While focusing on the positive aspects, we will share the challenges and ideas both for participants and facilitators, including tools and tips for greater success. You will learn about the Mutuality Art Project, a unique group activity, and receive an invitation to an ongoing monthly group facilitators
A4: Your Rights in Employment: Working with Vocational Rehabilitation | Presenters: Jane Moore & Lucas Cuéller
This presentation will provide information on the rights you have when accessing Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services and how to exercise them. The workshop will start with an overview of VR including how the process works from the application to successful employment . The facilitators will review what an Individual Plan for Employment (IPE) contains and how to ensure it reflects your choices. The facilitators will then discuss what due process rights you have to challenge a VR decision you don’t agree with. Information will be presented on the different dispute resolution options and the important timelines to consider. Finally, the facilitators will explain how DRM can assist and the process to access DRM advocacy services. There will be ample time for questions and discussions.
A5: Embodying Resilience Together: Dance, Movement, and Collective Recovery | Presenter: Morgyn Danae
Recovery can be isolating. Trauma often disconnects us from our bodies and from one another. In this experiential workshop, peer advocate and healing artist Morgyn Danae explores how gentle, accessible dance movement is part of our human history and cultures all over the world. It can restore a sense of belonging, resilience, and shared strength in recovery communities. Participants will learn how trauma impacts connection and how simple, guided movement practices can rebuild trust — both within ourselves and with others. No dance experience is needed. Movements are invitational, adaptable, and trauma-informed. Through storytelling, guided reflection, and collective movement experiences, we will explore how resilience is not only something we think about — it is something we can feel and create together.
A6: Advocacy 101: Protecting Maine’s Opioid Settlement Funds | Presenters: Tess Parks & Courtney Meade
Billions of dollars in opioid settlement funds are flowing into states and counties across the country, and how that money is spent will shape the future of harm reduction, recovery, and community health for decades. These funds are blood money, paid because our loved ones died and for the ones who lived endured untold pain at the hands of companies like Purdue Pharma. This session focuses on movement-led advocacy and organizing to ensure opioid settlement funds are invested in programs that save lives, support recovery, and strengthen communities. Participants will learn how settlement decisions are made, where power sits, and how to intervene through coalition building, direct advocacy, and community pressure. Grounded in Maine’s recent wins, this session lifts up real examples of how harm reduction and recovery communities organized to pass legislation to protect the funds, demand transparency, call out harmful spending, and redirect funds toward evidence-based, community-driven solutions. These victories show that when impacted people organize across movements, together, we can shift priorities and hold systems accountable. This session is for anyone ready to turn grief into action and demand that opioid settlement funds serve the people most harmed by the crisis.
A7: Animal Connections | Presenter: Cara Cribb *note: this workshop will also be offered during Workshop B
This workshop will be about how animals that are normally known as “livestock” can actually be the perfect therapy companion. I will demonstrate with some activities with animals. Goats are ablet to pick up on moods and sense when to be gentle around people with disabilities. Chickens can help those with autism and learning social cues, as well as ducks. Pigs can raise moods to happiness and bring stress levels down. I create programs around these animals to help those who need it.
Workshop B (10:55am-12:05pm)
B1: Who Responds and How: Peer Support and the Values of Maine’s Crisis System | Presenters: Amanda Thompson & Brie Masselli
Maine’s crisis system is undergoing significant transformation based on new national best practice standards, including the integration of peer support roles. As we get closer to seeing these changes in action through new training for all Crisis Service Providers and a dual-response model in Mobile Crisis services, this session will explore what values are driving these changes, where lived experience has impacted this system, and offers an honest look at what is changing in Maine’s crisis system.
B2: From Inside Out: Peer Recovery Pathways for Justice-Involved Individuals | Presenters: Kristin Crowley, Lindsey Higgins, Susie McKenna, Catherine Rawson
Justice involvement does not have to be a barrier to recovery. This presentation explores how peer-led recovery support can transform experiences of incarceration and reentry. This panel-style workshop will highlight several justice-involved recovery programs through Portland Recovery Community Center that support individuals that are incarcerated, at the point of reentry, or as they navigate recovery in the community. Attendees will learn how recovery coaching, diversion programs, transportation support, and peer groups all work together to reduce barriers, increase engagement in treatment and recovery support, and promote long-term wellness. The session will include lived experience perspectives, systems-level insights, and practical takeaways for building recovery-centered justice responses.
B3: C.O.R.E. Strength for Healing | Presenter: Niki Merrill
The C.O.R.E. Workshop is a transformative experience designed for individuals seeking growth, healing, and connection. This workshop focuses on the essential pillars of Compassion, Optimism, Resilience, and Empowerment, providing participants with the tools and support to navigate their recovery journeys effectively. Attendees will discover strategies to build meaningful connections, cultivate optimism for the future, enhance resilience to overcome challenges, and empower themselves with actionable steps for ongoing well-being. Expect an interactive and engaging environment where you can share your experiences and learn from others, all while walking away motivated and equipped with new strategies to enhance your healing process. Invest in yourself and connect with a community committed to growth and recovery!
B4: Joy as Resistance: Sustaining Advocacy Without Burning Out | Presenter: Kerri Pitts
Advocacy is often centered around crisis and urgency, but that can often lead to burnout and disengagement. This workshop reframes joy, rest, creativity, and connection as acts of resistance and essential tools for sustainable advocacy. Participants will reflect on what sustains them, identify early signs of burnout, and develop personalized strategies to stay engaged in advocacy without losing themselves in the process. The session centers lived experience, community wisdom, and celebration as sources of power.
B5: Peer Support Behind the Walls: Support During Incarceration & Beyond | Presenter: Tamra Oman
This interactive breakout session explores the dual role of peer supporters in correctional and community reentry settings. Through guided discussion, real-world scenarios, and group collaboration, participants will build practical strategies for delivering effective, trauma-informed peer support — from behind the walls and beyond them.
B6: Learn a New Superpower! EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) “Tapping” | Presenter: Karen St. Clair
Join me at this EFT Tapping presentation and have some fun while you learn how to tame the stressful moments in life that we all experience. In this safe and gentle presentation, you’ll learn how stress is created, how our bodies react and how you can easily lower your own stress just by Tapping on certain stress relieving points.
B7: Animal Connections | Presenter: Cara Cribb **note: this workshop is also available during workshop A
This workshop will be about how animals that are normally known as “livestock” can actually be the perfect therapy companion. I will demonstrate with some activities with animals. Goats are ablet to pick up on moods and sense when to be gentle around people with disabilities. Chickens can help those with autism and learning social cues, as well as ducks. Pigs can raise moods to happiness and bring stress levels down. I create programs around these animals to help those who need it.
Workshop C (2:40-3:50pm)
Self-care is an essential part of working with our own mental health but is easy for us to forget that our well-being is just as important of that of others. In this workshop, Charlie aims to teach you the importance of self-care. You will get the chance to practice a few basic self-care skills and build a way to more easily choose how you want to take care of your mental and physical health.
C2: Mental Health and Creativity: The Power of Language | Presenters: Elias Peirce & Kaitlyn Currie
When we share our stories, the lived experience at the heart of peer support work inevitably gets filtered through the language we use. And words have impact! Some piece of language or another might hit me particularly hard, while only registering as a blip on someone else’s radar. Words can create stigma and harmful labels, boxing us in with definitions that don’t capture our experiences—but they can also open up new understandings, challenging preconceived notions we have of ourselves and the world. This presentation will be formatted like a creative writing workshop. After being exposed to a couple different samples of creative writing about mental health struggle, you’ll have the opportunity to respond to a self-reflective prompt about your own mental health journey. You’ll then have the option to share aloud (thought of course, not required) and offer feedback (ditto) to each other about what language made a deep impression on you, and why.
C3: Talk is Cheap, I Want Change | Presenter: Rachel Ward
Every person has a story, and those stories have the power to change laws, policies, and systems. This hands-on workshop helps participants learn how to use their own lived experiences to speak up, be heard, and create real change in their communities. Participants will learn how to tell their personal stories in ways that connect with others and influence decision-makers. We’ll break down how the government really works — who makes decisions, how laws and policies are created or changed, and where everyday people can step in to make a difference. No prior knowledge is needed. The workshop is highly interactive and focused on action. Through discussion, reflection, and practical exercises, participants will connect their stories to the issues they care about and build a clear plan for what to do next — whether that’s talking to an elected official, organizing in their community, or joining a campaign.
C4: Closing the Gap: Sexual Violence and Access to Care in the Recovery Community | Presenters: Sammy-Ellie MacKinnon, Lisa Rävar, Kate Turpen
This session explores the unique risk factors found in the recovery and mental health communities. Using their lived experience, participants will be invited to discuss barriers to accessing sexual assault support services. In understanding the risk factors and gaps in services, participants can discuss and design what a peer support and recovery space free from sexual violence would look like.
C5: Podcasting: Toolbox for Storytelling | Presenters: Sarah Savage-Bellavance & Brittany Lorance
Have a podcast idea, or want to share lived experience stories in a way that’s safe, respectful, and engaging? Join CCSM’s podcast team for a practical introduction to creating a peer driven podcast from concept to launch. We’ll walk through clarifying your purpose and audience, planning episodes, choosing budget-friendly equipment and software, and building a sustainable workflow. We’ll also focus on ethical storytelling: preparing guests, creating emotional safety, using content considerations, and bringing stories to the public with care. Participants will leave with a simple toolbox to begin (or strengthen) their own podcast.
C6: You Need to Hear This: The Human Cost of Recovery | Presenters: Tenney Swift & Emily Mitchell
A mental health provider realizes she once needed the same support as the people she now serves. In this candid session, the Shalom House Art Instructor shares her personal recovery journey and how it shaped her work with adults living with severe mental illness. She will explore the paradox of knowing help exists but feeling unable to access it, the sacrifices required to receive treatment, and the systemic barriers that can make seeking recovery feel risky. This workshop invites attendees to rethink what accessibility truly means and consider how we can build recovery systems that are more accessible and collaborative. Participants will explore how systems of recovery (mental health, substance use, healthcare) can unintentionally create barriers by requiring individuals to risk housing, employment, and stability to receive care. Tenney will also share how creative spaces led by peers and consumers, and peers as consumers, can become communities of belonging where power imbalances are reduced and recovery is nurtured through connection and expression. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the tension between professional knowledge and lived experience, practical reflections on making systems less oppressive and more collaborative, and inspiration for integrating creativity and community into recovery-oriented practice.