Stronger Together: Essex County Joins Forces With PSCP to Offer Peer Grief Support

Essex County Outreach is dedicated to fostering collaboration among law enforcement agencies, social service providers, and community supports to address the multifaceted challenges of substance use disorder (SUD), Mental and Behavioral Health needs, and associated risks within the Essex County community.  

PSCP has received a grant from Essex County Outreach to deliver individualized peer grief support to residents bereaved by deaths due to substance-related causes. Through this grant, we are able to provide in-person support throughout the county and work with partner organizations to better identify and reach bereaved individuals, providing them with crucial peer grief support services. Hear personally from PSCP’s Peer Grief Support Specialist and Essex County resident, Melissa Lezynski, on the importance of this grant and our commitment to offering tailored peer grief support. 

“ECO has given us a grant to pay for a memorial in Essex County and it is my hope to erect a bench on the boulevard and have it surrounded by a rock garden that folks would create in memory of their loved ones. I am currently making plans for a mailing list and QR code to post to Facebook in my area so that we can begin to get a number for how many individuals would like to include a loved one they lost to overdose, in a permanent memorial  in Gloucester. This project is pretty big but I think it can be done in a way that folks get to place their loved ones' names somewhere permanent and will be able to visit for years to come.

I am super grateful to ECO for trusting me with such a beautiful opportunity to serve my community in this way. I should mention that so many of our loved ones were cremated due to average income households not being able to pay for "full funeral services" so this will be a perfect place for us to see their names and be able to pay tribute whenever we need to feel close to them.

I couldn't be more grateful to have such an amazing opportunity.”

Melissa describes one of the many projects that we are working on for Essex County residents. We have also distributed carefully thought out care baskets for bereaved residents, offered in-person peer grief support at Essex County locations of their choosing, and so much more. It is an honor to have this opportunity and we look forward to continuing to work with Essex County Outreach.