Get to Know Us

In her current role as Benefits Manager, Rosemary Cruz is responsible for the day-to-day operations involving benefits and leave administration, workers’ compensation, employee accommodations, workplace wellness initiatives, management training, and employee relations. She oversees a team of eleven HR employees providing a wide array of services to BHN staff and prospective employees. Rosemary spends much of her time on employee benefit packages
due to their complexity. In order to simplify the process, Rosemary and her team take the time to sit down with employees to walk them through their benefit package, breaking down each part of the plan in a way that makes sense. As a result, she and her team “have found that [employees] are becoming better educated consumers around making healthcare choices for themselves and their families.” When asked about what her favorite part of her current role is, without hesitation she answers, “The opportunity to connect with our employees each and every day.”

Alaina grew up in Brattleboro, Vermont, and by the time she was 15 years old—just a freshman in high school—she was approached by a social worker who was running a peer outreach program centered on health education at her school. As a peer educator, Alaina explains, “I got to see how policy changes are implemented, and the impact these policies had on my generation.” She was hooked. Alaina continued in this role through graduation and went on to receive a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Elms College, followed by a Master’s degree in Social Work from Springfield College.

Now, as Program Director for BHN’s Intensive Care Coordination Team, Alaina and her team have helped build the program into a valuable resource for many families in the area. With Alaina at the helm, the ICC team’s overarching goal for each case is to “get all providers on the same page, clarify each provider’s role, get the child connected with community supports, get the parents connected with the right resources, and at the end, develop a transition plan.” On a personal level, Alaina’s passion for the work she started when she was 15 has grown even stronger over the years, and shows no signs of stopping. “In working with families, my priority is to instill hope — to show them there’s hope at the end of all this, and that we will get there together.”

Growing up, Agatha wanted to become a nurse. “I’ve always been a nurturer, I love taking care of people,” she says. When her path led her to social work, she took a part-time position with BHN as a home health aid at the emergency residence in Amherst. Immediately, her peers saw something special in her. Over the next several years, she was promoted to full-time, then to lead staff, then to her current role as supervisor. Agatha has many memories and stories of people she’s served over the years, and her most memorable experiences reveal the qualities that have fueled her success. One example is an individual she had grown close with - so close that she was considered family. According to Agatha, “His mom would come out to visit me when I worked on Sundays. Every Sunday she would bring food and say how happy she was with the work we were doing to take care of her son. We invited her and the rest of their family to the residence for dinner each week.” Perhaps most importantly, “We made a home for them.” When the individual’s mother passed away, Agatha attended the funeral with him and helped him through the grieving process.

Agatha sees herself doing this work for quite a while. “My mindset has always been, ‘If I’m going to do this, I’m putting my all into it.’” For Agatha, it’s more than just a residence, “It’s a home. We’re a family,” – a family that will continue to grow under Agatha’s leadership.

My journey at BHN all started one Saturday in June of 2019 when I applied for a position, and that same day they wrote to me for an interview. I was excited and eager to know what would happen! In less than two weeks I had two interviews and was accepted as a Program Assistant for the CCBHC grant. I was nervous since English is not my first language and was afraid they would not give me the opportunity. However, I can tell you that it was the opposite - I surprised myself, I learned and I am very grateful. I had the joy of meeting incredible people who helped me progress at the organization. I spent all of my time learning about BHN's systems, reports, resources, programs and going the extra mile. 

In January 2020 I became an Access Navigator for the program. I loved what I was doing, and seeing different clients daily through Open Access filled me with satisfaction, knowing that just by giving a client a resource, they were grateful. I was proud to know that I helped put a grain of hope in a family.
 
The arrival of the Covid-19 virus changed the workflow for many of us. For me, it was a time of improvement and learning. I was able to be part of the Access Project, which provides improved access to BHN services for both clients and providers. This project was challenging since we were all working from home, but it was an unforgettable experience. During this time, I also focused on finishing my Master's degree in Human Resources, pursuing my goal of continuing to improve myself and grow professionally. 

I am a person who always has in mind the word progress and was looking for something different after completing my Master's degree. In August 2020, I applied for the position of Supervisor for the Intake Department. And you know what? I was promoted from Access Navigator to Supervisor of the Intake Department! BHN allowed me to put into practice what I learned!

I thank BHN and my supervisors for believing in me. I have had the opportunity to do awesome things for the Intake Department including creating workflows, Smartsheets, providing support to my team, and participating in the Access Project. We will continue to grow and improve Central Intake with our dedication and teamwork!

Bursting with energy and positivity, Bridgett Kelly’s outlook on and passion in life is infectious. As a clinician for BHN’s Crisis Services division, she tends to meet people at their most vulnerable point, experiencing a crisis with little or no hope for the future. While this may deter some from entering the field, Bridgett sees her work as an opportunity to give back and use her own life experiences to help those in crisis— something to which she is no stranger herself.

Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, Bridgett, the second of seven sisters, moved to Springfield where they were raised. As a teenager attending school, Bridgett was told by teachers she would make a great social worker, seemingly solidified by a personality test she took that matched her responses with a career path in social services. At the time, she had no interest in such a career. Some years later, Bridgett recounts “a time of crisis in my life for nine straight months— nine months of total chaos,” involving frequent substance use. When she had reached her breaking point, “I found out about recovery and my life was saved.”

Upon successfully completing her recovery program, Bridgett developed a bond with those running the program, who immediately asked her to consider working with them. “When I got the phone call asking me to work for them, my first thought was, ‘why me?’” she recounts. Though reluctant at first, Bridgett began her work in recovery— this time helping individuals get through the same crises she herself had so recently battled. As a self-proclaimed lifelong learner, Bridgett went back to school to finish her degree, a Master’s in Social Work from Springfield College.

Now a crisis counselor at BHN, Bridgett still counsels individuals with addictions, though she also helps individuals with severe depression, anxiety, and other mental health crises. In reality, her role and impact expand much further than providing counseling. Three years ago, Bridgett began creating various support groups for women in the community. Hattitude is a group she created for women “in the spirit of sisterhood,” where members can make hats that express their individuality. This group also holds regular ‘empowerment meetings,’ often bringing in guest speakers to talk about female empowerment and strength. Another group she leads is Women in Recovery Inc., which so far has ‘adopted’ a local school where members serve as mentors to students, helping them gain access to important community resources.

Reflecting on her journey here, Bridgett can now answer the question, ‘why me?’ “Looking back, I realize I went through that crisis in order to bring me back to what I was always meant to do,” referencing the result of the personality test and her teachers’ predictions. Now 28 years sober, Bridgett views her past crisis as a way to connect with others experiencing similar adversity. By giving back, “we give people a sense of hope, and with hope comes faith, and a lot of times that’s just what somebody needs.”

Assistant Program Director for BHN’s Adult Community Clinical Services Program Carmen Quinones, the Assistant Program Director for ACCS, is no stranger to artistic expression. “My father was an artist, so art was always a part of our household — I’ve been drawing since I could talk.”

Carmen joined BHN two years ago as a Care Coordinator for the Adult Community Clinical Services program in Westfield (formerly known as the CBFS program), bringing her passion for art with her. Eventually, a number of local art exhibits caught her attention, citing exhibits hosted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Holyoke Community College, as sources of inspiration. As May approached, Carmen saw an opportunity to align a possible art exhibit with May Mental Health Month.

On May 11 last year, the walls within The Mill at Crane Pond in Westfield came to life when Carmen organized the art exhibit featuring paintings, photographs, sculptures, and other forms of art created by program participants and employees. In the words of the Carmen, “We have a lot of talented program participants and staff [and] it was very rewarding seeing how proud our participants were showcasing their artwork.”

The process of turning her idea into a reality was no small feat — “It was an intense process,” she recalls, “we didn’t expect as many pieces as we got; they kept flooding in past the deadline.”

Yet, the process also revealed the depth of Carmen’s generosity. She cites one participant who spent hours creating paintings for the exhibit, but couldn’t afford the supplies to display and frame them — “I ended up taking all 8 of her paintings home with me and spent a couple hours framing them myself.” Another participant had been passionate about photography during his childhood and teenage years but gave it up as an adult. “He had tons and tons of old photographs in his attic, and this exhibit gave him an opportunity to showcase his work for the first time in decades. His reaction meant the world to me — he was so proud to display his work again.”

Naturally, the exhibit’s resounding success led to questions about future exhibits within BHN, to which Carmen responds, “I’m still recovering from this one!” “It was very rewarding to see how program participants felt as a result — they were so happy and so proud to showcase their work,” she continued, “it’s no secret our walls are boring, blank canvases waiting to be filled — everyone was so excited to see the walls come alive with color.”

In the end, Carmen’s art exhibit became a symbol of something larger than the display of art — “I think it just goes to show that anything is possible with some inspiration and determination.”