Growing Our Reach: Engaging New Audiences by Amplifying the Support We Provide

GROWING OUR REACH

Engaging new audiences by amplifying the support we provide

Letter From Our President & Board Chair

Letter From Our President & Board Chair

Steven Zuckerman, President & CEO Bruce Simons, Board President

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

While we were still navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic during the past year, there was enough progress made with vaccines and treatments that we were thankfully able to shift our focus back to growth. We added key new services, opened new facilities including our state-of-the-art clinic in New Britain and expanded Middletown Clinic, and broke ground on a Memorial Garden that will be a place for healing and solitude for those who have lost loved ones to addiction.

We are in awe of the strength and resilience of our staff of nearly 300 as our organization continues to navigate this new world and ensures we deliver the highest quality of care for the 5,500 clients we serve daily. To grow and provide critical, life-saving services in this environment, we rely on our staff, which we believe, includes some of the best in our industry.

Additionally, we continue to make strides in the world of research surrounding mental health and addiction. This year, we launched a new entity of the Root Center, the Advanced Recovery Institute, which is committed to research and training to elevate clinical care. With that, we expanded our free Clinical Grand Rounds series, where we are honored to welcome speakers from across the country, presenting on important topics surrounding behavioral health.

As another facet of the Advanced Recovery Institute, we were also pleased to host a community forum on the timely topic of safe consumption sites, featuring individuals leading the charge to help curb the growing number of overdose deaths, which we know is at an all-time high for both our state, and country.

Not only do we believe in growth within our organization, but we feel strongly about non-profits helping other non-profits. I am so proud to see our staff utilize their paid volunteer day to help surrounding organizations doing wonderful work in the communities we serve. We also like to assist on an organizational level, which is why we donated $50,000 to Americares this past year following the war in the Ukraine to help with relief efforts overseas.

We look forward to the year to come, as we have many exciting projects in the works. We know our staff will continue to reach new milestones, and further the future of recovery, which we know, is a journey where progress is the destination.

Wishing you all good health and happiness, and may this next year be our best year yet.

Warmly,

Steven Zuckerman, President & CEO Bruce Simons, Board President

Launching the Advanced Recovery Institute

With the growth of the Root Center for Advanced Recovery in recent years, we’ve made a commitment to supporting other organizations that serve our patient audience. Expanding on that philosophy, this year we launched The Advanced Recovery Institute (ARI) to support organizations and individuals in our field. ARI seeks to elevate clinical care and patient outcomes by conducting research and sponsoring mental health and substance use disorder training and education programs. As an initiative of the Root Center, ARI leverages and freely shares the clinical insights we gain from treating 5,500 patients per day, training hundreds of practitioners, and participating in dozens of research programs each year.

Additionally, for the first time ever, ARI is sponsoring a grant opportunity to those researching pertinent topics in the field of mental health and addiction. In the coming year, we will accept applications from outside programs and partners with leading researchers and universities. An endowment grant will help support research projects for one year with a maximum amount of $100,000 per award for the purpose of advancing treatment and recovery from opioid or other substance use and mental health disorders.

Through partnerships with clinical and institutional research, scientists, and other subject matter experts at universities and national research organizations in the United States and worldwide, Root Center for Advanced Recovery can ask questions that lead to increasingly effective methods of addressing addiction, from prevention to treatment to lifelong recovery. ARI is a major step for our non-profit agency and we look forward to the insights and impact this endeavor will yield in the future.

Hosting Critical Community Forums

To share best practices and promote insightful discussions on mental health and addiction, ARI hosted a Community Forum on Safe Consumption Sites in June with a broad array of thought leaders on this timely topic. By hosting forums on key topics like this, we hope to both raise awareness and push for change that can better the future of recovery for all.

Left: Dr. Steven Wolf, the Former Chair of St. Francis Hospital’s Emergency Department, Peter Canning, Emergency Medical Services Coordinator at the University of Connecticut, Alina Kahn, a University of Maryland student who has written in favor of legislation around safe consumption sites, Patricia Rehmer, Former Commissioner of Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services, Nikki Bell, former New Britain Clinic client, Sam Rivera, Executive Director Safe Site Injection Site NYC, Lisa Peterson, Chief Operating Officer at VICTA.

Below left: Root Center’s Steven Zuckerman and Dr. Joseph Podolski flank Dr. Saud Anwar, physician and Connecticut State Senator, who was a key participant in the discussion.

Clinical Grand Rounds

In addition to our forums, we continue to offer monthly Clinical Grand Rounds with leaders in the field of mental health and addiction. These presentations are offered virtually and are free and open to all. We also offer Continuing Education Credits for $10, and we are proud to offer CEUs to Root staff members free of charge. All discussions are then posted to our YouTube page for anyone to watch at their convenience. Visit rootcenter.org to view the upcoming schedule and register.

Internships that Inspire Careers

Another way that we continue to promote education is by maintaining a robust internship program across our sites. This year, we were thrilled to have 71 interns participate in our program. Interns have opportunities ranging from clinical activities like helping with individual/group therapy and biophysical assessments to gaining finance, HR, quality and other operational experience.

Memorial Garden

Groundbreaking

This year we celebrated the creation of a new public space behind our headquarters, our Memorial Garden. We hosted our groundbreaking ceremony on International Overdose Awareness Day, to honor how the garden will be a beautiful and serene sanctuary for the family and friends of overdose victims to reflect, honor, and remember loved ones lost to substance use. With the Root Center logo as inspiration, the space was designed in an array of colors and distinctive spaces to offer visitors a holistic spot for spiritual renewal.

One feature of the garden is a wall adorned with rocks painted by community members, staff, and patients, to leave behind words of encouragement, artistic designs, and names of those who we have sadly lost. The rock project is ongoing in hopes of offering folks a way to leave their mark on the garden or take a rock with them as a token of remembrance. The garden opened to the public on August 31st, 2022.

Memorial garden construction progress images

Memorial Garden Groundbreaking

View

New Britain Grand Opening

2022 included several new beginnings, including the grand opening of our newest healthcare clinic in New Britain. The Root Center has been serving the New Britain community for nearly 40 years, treating more than 700 patients per day in its original facility at 70 Whiting Street.

As we continued to grow and expand both services and number of patients, we looked for a new location to better accommodate those needs. When we first welcomed patients in January and with our formal celebration in April, we were proud to open a brand new 10,000 square foot facility that features four large and flexible group meeting rooms, 17 individual counseling offices, and a kids play area within line of sight for parents or guardians as they receive treatment. This clinic is a beautiful state-of-the-art facility that changes the face of traditional recovery clinics. At the Root Center, we want our staff and patients to feel dignified and supported when they walk into our facilities. In the future, we are looking to add additional services to support varied facets of holistic recovery, and utilize this space for free community events, including forums on pertinent topics facing our community, particularly as they relate to behavioral health, as well as recoverybased meetings.

Looking towards the future in New Britain, we are also implementing plans to reinvent our legacy facility into our first residential treatment clinic. We are excited to continue offering our communities with significantly deeper resources that more fully support recovery.

By The Numbers

ROOT Center in Numbers

UNIQUE CLIENTS SERVED = 500 clients

12.8%

5,071 MALE 3,086 FEMALE

25.3%

GROWTH FROM LAST YEAR (CLIENTS) GROWTH FROM LAST YEAR (TELEHEALTH) GENDER OF PATIENTS

80-89

87,416 18-29

OF PATIENTS BY BRACKETS 40-49

60-69 50-59

70-79 30-39

This year, we welcomed 88 new staff members, including, many key hires. We added several Nursing Supervisors, a Research Coordinator, an APRN, a Chief Medical Officer, a Marketing Director, a Director of Operations, a Director of Projects and New Business, and a Quality and Compliance Specialist.

Supporting Our Communities by Volunteering & Donating

At the Root Center, we pride ourselves on volunteerism and giving back to our communities. To better assist with this effort, we are proud to offer all our employees one paid volunteer day to be of assistance to an organization of their choosing. We also attend several community events to educate the public on who we are and what we do.

Over the course of the past year, we partnered with Toys for Tots, Friendly Hands Food Bank, Havens Harvest, and Middletown Pride, just to name a few.

Additionally, following the devastating news from the war in Ukraine, we felt compelled to help, and did so by donating $50,000 to Americares to assist in any relief efforts necessary. Our staff demonstrated solidarity with the people of the Ukraine by wearing blue and yellow, and dawning ribbons to signify peace. At Root, we are particularly passionate about helping the under served and marginalized populations.

Celebrate PRIDEfest

Meet Our Featured Staff Member: Senior Counselor, Ray Bishop

Engagement

Rewarding & Recognizing Our Team’s Contributions

While the work that we do at the Root Center is very important and needed, it can also be emotionally taxing. For that reason, we live our core values of honoring the power in everyone and renewing ourselves to better share our strength.

Some of the ways we support our employees include our annual ice cream truck day, where an ice cream truck visits each of our clinics to offer an icy treat on a warm summer day. We also treat our staff to a day at Lake Compounce, including a barbecue to enjoy with friends and family, and give every team member a Lyman Orchards apple pie to celebrate Thanksgiving. Not to mention, we have a variety of contests throughout the year where clinics compete for a prize based on things like ugly holiday sweaters and pumpkin decorating. Clinic staff also enjoy decorating their facilities for holidays and dressing up throughout the year to help bring cheer and happiness to the workplace.

We also care deeply about the health and wellbeing of our staff and offer free vaccination clinics for COVID-19 and the flu.

Additionally, we love to recognize employees for their time and tenure with our agency, and at this year’s annual employee service awards, we recognized staff who had anywhere from 5 years of employment with us, all the way up to 30!

Patient Service Representatives Celebrate Together

My name is Jennifer. I have been a patient with the Root Center for several years, and my experience here, and through the years has been a positive one. How and why, not so much.

My story is pretty common. I became dependent on opioid pain medication prescribed by my doctor after being in an accident. I started taking much more than prescribed which led to a full blown addiction. I needed help. I did not want to live this way. I needed to arrest the problem right now, so I could be a mom, and wife. This was when I was told about the Root Center which was the former Hartford Dispensary. I never heard of Methadone until I came in. I found the agency in the yellow pages.

The nurses, doctors and staff educated me on everything I needed to know about the program, and treated me with the utmost respect. I have had several counselors over the years, each one of them different, but all caring, supportive, and always provided me with just what I needed. The miracle here... the first time I walked into Root, was the last time I used opiates. Today, I am happy to say I have over a decade abstinent from drugs, I am a productive member of society, and work as an advocate, Case Manager, and Recovery Support Specialist, educating adults young and old, on the dangers of drug use.

I have the whole staff, doctors, nurses, counselors, and administration to thank for saving my life then, and today.

Thank you, Jennifer

B.

“...the first time I walked into Root, was the last time I used...”

Hear From Jennifer

Purpose, Values and Board of Directors

Our Purpose

Our purpose is to create relationships that empower the courage and ability to change.

This means being there from the start and providing guidance and support throughout the entire recovery journey.

Learn More About Our Purpose & Values

Our Values

We are caring, intelligent people committed to supporting others. As an organization, we are committed to supporting our people as they continue to grow, develop and advance.

Honor the power in everyone

• Renew ourselves to share our strength

Embrace new perspectives

• Progress is the destination

Board of Directors

The Root leadership team is committed to positively impacting the lives of those around us and to continuing to add more talented team members to deliver on our Mission.

Officers: Bruce Simons, Chairperson

Darcie Boiano, Secretary • Steven Zuckerman, President/CEO

Directors: Robert Casati, Stephen Fisher, Dave Louden, John Mohring, William E. Schumann, Dr. David Hopkins, Dr. Martin Anderson, Dr. Mariela Podolski, Dr. Carla Rash , Eric Zachs