SAUGUS — The Community Wellness Fair was hosted Tuesday afternoon behind the Belmonte STEAM Academy and provided families with information from various health and wellness organizations.
Director of Saugus Youth and Recreation, Crystal Cakounes, spoke about the importance of the event and its purpose.
“We’re focusing on youth mental health and substance use awareness… There are people inside giving some information out. A lot of people don’t know about the stuff that’s available to them, you know, mental health is always kind of a hush-hush topic. Then we mix it with some fun things like the petting zoo, slush, a photo booth, and the DJ,” she said.
Cakounes said they like to host the event at the end of the school year to kick off the summer.
“There are a lot of resources that I feel like a lot of parents need that show what to look for mental health-wise… Krystal (Mellonakos) says a lot of the time, if you have a broken leg, you know your leg is broken, and you go to the doctor. If someone is experiencing some sort of mental health crisis or a situation, people just say, ‘Oh, you’ll be fine, it’s fine,’ but it’s not fine. When people need help, we want to show them where they can get it,” she said.
Different booths were set up inside the gym of the Belmonte, where people could get the information Cakounes spoke of. One of the booths was Embrace Pathways.
“We have clinicians who come into all the Saugus schools who see kids during the day. This is a good way to hear about all of the services that are out there. I work with some kids and parents, and I’ll say, ‘Oh, what about this,’ and they’ll never have heard of it before,” social worker Nancy Ritz of Embrace Pathways said.
Another booth at the event belonged to Massachusetts Young People in Recovery (MyPIR), and behind it was local Nick McLeod.
“I was born and raised in Saugus, and I struggled with addiction as a young adult. Entering recovery was the best thing that ever happened in my life. The program I’m with, MyPIR, supports young adults ages 18 to 27. We’re a nonprofit organization that does groups, trainings, and activities all free of charge. I run a group every Tuesday night called the Recovery Roundtable from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Saugus Youth and Rec Center, and I’m hoping this will open more eyes to what we’re trying to do in the area,” McLeod said.
The Saugus Police Department was also there with a booth all about safety.
“I think it’s important for the police to attend anything like this, because it’s something, first off, that gets us involved with the community. Second of all, a lot of people don’t realize some of the things we can do for them inside the community, other than being police officers,” Det. Stacey Forni said.
She explained that the department has a car seat program, where Lt. Fred Forni writes a grant to get car seats donated and given to families in need. The department also has members, like Forni, who are certified to install them for families.
“He also writes a grant with EOPSS (Executive Office of Public Safety and Security) for safety things. It has a lot to do with bike safety. We try to set up a bike rodeo with the kids to go through safety tactics. We check their bikes to ensure their brakes are working and that there’s air in their tires. We explain road safety to them while being on a bike and put them through an obstacle course,” she said.
Forni continued, saying that they make it fun, but also want them to understand at a young age how important safety is, like wearing helmets.
Mellonakos, who is the regional coordinator of the MassCALL3 Youth Substance Use Prevention grant, said that through the grant, they are able to do wellness fairs and bring the community together to provide information to families that will benefit them.
