SWAMPSCOTT — The Senior Center is partnering up with several town departments and organizations to offer the “Thriving in Every Season” free mental health and wellness event on Saturday, March 14, at Swampscott High School.
The event will run in two parts: A conference portion from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and a wellness fair from 1 to 3 p.m.
The conference will be headlined by keynote speaker Lisa Tieszen of Resilience Works, a national consulting and training organization, kicking off the day at 10 a.m. Heidi Whear, the director of aging services at the Swampscott Senior Center, said she is looking forward to hearing Tieszen speak.
“She’ll be opening up and talking about, you know, finding mindfulness and purpose in life for every age group,” she said. “And hope. She talks about hope as a verb and a noun, which is a wonderful way of talking about it.”
Following the Keynote speech, conference goers will have the opportunity to choose among three presentation tracks. One will be geared towards veterans, another towards families, and one towards aging populations.
Whether it’s managing trauma, confronting isolation, or dealing with family stress, there will be something worthwhile during the conference for people in every season of life, Whear said — hence the conference title.
The theme of the conference, Whear said, came from the Swampscott Health Department, which received ARPA funding specifically to combat mental health challenges that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic that still affect people of many different ages and walks of life today.
“We’ll have some phenomenal speakers, who will address things like resiliency and how to have a growth mindset,” said Whear. “About how to make sure that we’re connected and we’re finding our purpose in our life and our work.”
Tieszen will also moderate a panel to close out the conference, with representatives from the Swampscott Police Department and the departments of health, recreation, and veterans services. The goal of this ending panel is to share resources that promote well-being and discuss how the town and its residents address issues such as purpose, connection, and community.
“It’s really a collaboration of a bunch of different departments in Swampscott to pull this whole event off,” Whear said.
Registrants of the conference will receive a free bagged lunch at 1:00 p.m., when the conference portion of the event ends, and the wellness fair begins. Whear said the organizers will have about 30-40 vendors lined up between the atrium and the cafeteria at the high school.
Tables at the fair are run by those working around health and wellness throughout the community. Attendees will have another opportunity to learn about mindful opportunities for themselves or their loved ones. They will even be able to try out wellness experiences such as sound baths or a yoga class.
“People can come and attend one of these things free of charge that day,” Whear said. “We want to make it worthwhile for people to come out and really put together all the resources we have.”
Registration for the conference is open to all. Those interested can register online or by calling the Swampscott Senior Center.
