00:00:00 Speaker 1
Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Eddylees Guzman, family care support specialist with Mental Health PEER Connection (MHPC), and I'm your host Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program Eddylees.
00:00:17 Speaker 2
Thanks for having me.
00:00:18 Speaker 1
It's our pleasure. People who have listened to the show for a while are maybe aware of the fact that MHPC has a number of support groups, over a dozen, I dare say, some in person at the agency, some in community locations.
But all of them, because they serve an important purpose for the individuals involved, and you're kicking off two brand new support groups. But first, can you tell us what your role is at the agency?
00:00:48 Speaker 2
Yes. So, I'm the family peer specialist, so I work to support the family members thats kind of been through the journey with anybody that's been an active user recovery. So, I meet them where they're at.
00:00:59 Speaker 1
Great. And I believe first you have not one but two grandparents support groups. What can you tell us about them?
00:01:07 Speaker 2
Yes, just not any grandparents support groups. These grandparents support groups are for grandparents caring for children of individuals struggling with substance use disorder. So, I have two grandparent groups, one located on the east side of Buffalo, and one located on the west side of Buffalo.
00:01:28 Speaker 2
We have the Frank E. Merriweather Library, 1324 Jefferson Ave., that takes place every first and third Wednesday from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., that is on the east side. And we have one on the west side that takes place at the West Side Community Services at 161 Vermont St. Buffalo, NY every second and fourth Monday from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
00:01:57 Speaker 1
Alrighty.
00:01:57 Speaker 2
I also have a grief and loss forum. I am not a licensed grief and loss counselor. What I'm doing is just providing information and resources to people in the community about grief and loss. We meet once a month, every third Monday from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. at Western New York Independent Living Job Club. So that's located here at 3108 Main St. it is not where the front of where the front of the location is. You do have to come to the side where the Jim’s SteakOut parking lot is.
00:02:39 Speaker 1
Just to clarify, for people not familiar with the facility, the main entrance or you should say the on the front side of 3108 Main is an emergency exit only. It's not an entrance to the building. To get in, you have to turn to the off-street parking lot, preferably by going in near Jim's SteakOut submarine shop. And go to the north end of the lot and you'll see a curved glass atrium. Go to the door, hit the buzzer and the receptionist will find out why you're there and buzz you in.
So. We've got it all together in that regard. When you're not doing all these groups, I guess you're counseling people on an individual basis?
00:03:26 Speaker 2
Yeah, I do one on ones with individuals, family members, anybody 18 or older that needs the support. I'm here to support the family members who've kind of been through that journey with somebody in active use or any recovery.
00:03:43 Speaker 1
Alright and I guess you've had some sort of role in support groups for some time, have you not?
00:03:50 Speaker 2
Uh, yeah. During COVID, we were doing a lot of Zoom support groups, but now that, not that COVID ended, but you know now that it's subsided, we are doing a lot of in person support groups.
00:04:04 Speaker 1
Alright, I'm sure people will have questions. How can they get in touch with you?
00:04:08 Speaker 2
You can contact me on my work cell 716-931-0280 or you can contact me by email, which is eguzman@wnyil.org
00:04:28 Speaker 1
Terrific. Well, thank you so much for being with us at Eddylees and I'm sure that people will be able to find some sort of peer support group that deals with their sort of mental health concerns and thank you for telling us about them.
00:04:44 Speaker 2
Thank you for having me.
00:04:46 Speaker 1
You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today was Eddylees Guzman, family peer support specialist at MHPC. And I've been your host, Ernie Churchwell.