Our Programs
The Amistad Peer Support and Recovery Center
What is it?
A safe and welcoming community for adults who struggle with mental illness and other life challenges. Open since 1982, we have grown into Maine’s largest peer community.
Where is it and when is it open?
We are located at 66 State Street in the West End of Portland. We are currently open 6 days a week (closed Sunday) from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
What goes on at the Peer Center?
The Peer Center offers a range of groups and activities. Highlights include a full service restaurant for lunch (the blue plate special for $1.25 is the best deal in Portland), computer access, lockers, a shower, laundry, phone availability and an anonymous mailing address. Our 15-passenger van is a regular visitor to free and low cost opportunities in the greater Portland area. Members make friends here.
What else do we provide?
We have an outreach coordinator who helps connect members with other services, a representative payee service, and distribute the Medicaid Bus Pass Program with RTP.
Do you use volunteers?
Absolutely! Many of our members are eager to give back to the community. They help staff the kitchen, answer phones and help with maintenance.
How do I join?
Just come in. A volunteer member of our welcoming committee will meet with you and give you a tour and a gift certificate for a free lunch. Folks can join on a first name basis if they wish.
Any last thoughts?
Amistad is a lively, welcoming and fun community. We have a rock solid belief in the possibility of recovery, and we put that belief into action every day.
Contact:
Mary Walker
Program Coordinator
PO Box 992
Portland, Maine 04104
(207) 773-1956
aces@maine.rr.com
The Healthy Amistad Program
What is Healthy Amistad?
Healthy Amistad is a program that has been developed to promote better health outcomes for the members of the Amistad community. Amistad has always worked to improve our members’ lives through mutual support and a firm belief in recovery from mental illness. With Healthy Amistad we are working to improve not only the mental health, but also the physical health of our members.
Why a Healthy Amistad?
Recent research has shown that individuals with severe and persistent mental illness die on average 25 years sooner than the regular population. This disturbing and astounding information led us to examine ways to support healthier lifestyles amongst our members. It is our hope to support the efforts of individuals with chronic illness to obtain better quality coordinated healthcare and lead longer, healthier lives.
How are we Doing This?
We are attempting to transform Amistad into a community who wants to take better care of their health. We’re doing this in a number of ways, such as providing healthier eating options, more physical activities, and a variety of wellness support groups for members who struggle with chronic diseases like diabetes. We also offer encouragement, peer support groups, and resources to the nearly 50% of members who smoke and wish to quit smoking.
Finally, we offer more intensive services to a limited number of members with chronic health conditions. These members work one-on-one with our Peer Patient Navigator, an individual who lives with mental illness and chronic disease. The Peer Patient Navigator aggressively supports members to obtain and follow through with high quality integrated healthcare.
Who can Participate?
Everyone! We encourage the entire community to take every step they can to lead to healthier lifestyles by taking better care of themselves. We are a community that has always cared for each other. This program takes us one step further. The positive attitudes, friendships and willingness to help each other have kept Amistad going for 25 years…now we want everyone to add those 25 years onto their lives!
Contact:
Mary Walker
Program Coordinator
PO Box 992
Portland, Maine 04104
(207) 773-1956
aces@maine.rr.com
The Amistad Peer Support Program in the Emergency Room at Maine Medical Center
What do you mean by Peer Support?
It is what you would expect to receive from a family member or friend if they were to accompany you to the emergency room for a medical emergency. We offer peer support to individuals who visit the emergency room for a psychiatric crisis – individuals who are often frightened, confused, and very often alone.
Who are the Peer Supporters?
They are individuals hired by Amistad who have personal experience with mental illness and recovery. The staff of the Peer Support Program have been there. They know first hand the struggles of living with a mental illness. And they are living examples that recovery is possible – they are the evidence of it.
What can I expect from Peer Support?
Peer Supporters understand that going to the emergency department can be a frightening experience. Time moves slowly. Long waits are common. Peer Supporters will make sure that you get a meal or drink if that would be helpful. They make sure that you understand what is happening. They can share their experience with you, or just sit with you. They will help you pass the time, play cards with you, or offer you reading or writing material. They can share resources with you, or skills that they have found useful once you are out of the emergency room.
How do I find them?
They are in the East Wing of the emergency room every evening from 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM. They will find you, or you can request peer support from the nurse on duty in the emergency room.
Contact:
George Carpenter
Peer Services Director (Portland Office)
PO Box 992
Portland, Maine 04104
(207) 773-1956
georgec@maine.rr.com
The Peer Support Program at Riverview Psychiatric Center
Amistad operates a Peer Support program inside Riverview Psychiatric Center (the former Augusta Mental Health Institute), Maine’s largest state psychiatric hospital.
Why a Peer Support Program?
For many individuals, an admission to Riverview can be an overwhelming and frightening experience. A hospital admission means that patients are removed from the supports they may have from family or the community – and they enter an environment that is new and sometimes confusing.
Who are Peer Supporters?
They are individuals hired by Amistad who have personal experience with mental illness and recovery. The Peer Supporters have been there. They know first hand the struggles of living with a mental illness. They are living examples that recovery is possible -- they are the evidence of it.
What can I expect from Peer Support?
Peer Supporters are with patients every step of their stay at Riverview. They are present at admissions, and there is a full-time peer supporter assigned to each of the 4 units of the hospital. There are Peer Supporters who also work on the weekends. They have the time to build relationships with patients. They will attend treatment team meetings if that is the wish of the patient. They will make sure that the patient needs are being met, and that the patient voices are being heard. And they can share their wisdom, knowledge and empathy to patients and staff in the hospital. Peer Supporters also provide support groups and wellness and recovery classes in the hospital.
Is this an unusual program?
To our knowledge, this may be the most serious effort to introduce peer support in any state psychiatric hospital in the country. Riverview has made peer support available to all patients, and the hospital has also made sure that staff from the Peer Support program are involved in all major decisions within the hospital. We believe it is evidence of the commitment of Riverview Psychiatric Center to a vision of the possibility of recovery for its patients.
Contact:
Holly Dixon
Peer Services Director (Augusta Office)
250 Arsenal St
Augusta, Maine 04332
(207) 624-4610
holly.dixon@maine.gov