Page 47 - Healthcare News Nov/Dec 2021

on a Path to Recovery“This is the age
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enough to know it can happen from addiction and learn the coping mechanisms to anyone. and life skills they need to be successful — and
Daniella Grimaldi, program director at Goodwin House.
New Lease on Life
Goodwin House Sets Teenage Boys
y JOSEPH BEDNAR Human Development in 2017 and named after its long-time CEO, Jim Goodwin. Its clients are teen-
aniella Grimaldi has worked age boys, ages 13 to 17, who live there, often after a
with young addicts long stint in detox, for 30 to 90 days in order to recover where, if you get
the help you need, “I say this to everybody: remain drug-free — afterward. you’ll be more
you don’t know what you don’t know about your kids. You could have the best kids in the world and raise them the right away, but all they have to do
is hang out with someone who’s doing the wrong thing. That’s when kids fall behind.”
And fall, all too often, into substance abuse. That’s where Goodwin House comes in.
“We are one of the only programs like this in the state,” said Grimaldi, program director of the house in Chicopee opened by the Center for
“There aren’t a lot of these programs for adoles- cents,” she went on. “But this is the age where, if you get the help you need, you’ll be more success- ful than if you get the help at 30 or 40 years old and know you’ve wasted all that time engaging in substances and not getting help.
“I think it’s critical. A lot of our kiddos who leave us call us a year or two later and say, ‘I’m really thankful for the opportunity,’” Grimaldi added. “I recently talked to a kiddo who left us
successful than if you get the help at 30 or 40 years old and know you’ve wasted all that time.”
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ADDICTION