Malden Leaders Celebrate New Recovery Center

MALDEN, MA — Malden leaders commemorated the opening of the Bridge Recovery Center with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday. The facility is the culmination of years of advocacy, planning and legislative efforts to secure funding, moved forward by a partnership between Malden Overcoming Addiction and the Gavin Foundation.

The center is operated and managed by the Gavin Foundation and funded by the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Addiction Services. Its peer-to-peer recovery model is designed to be a pathway from "darkness to dignity," Gavin Foundation CEO John McGahan said.

The peer-to-peer model calls on peer volunteers to initiate, design, create, implement and evaluate the center's activities and policies. The activities are designed for and by people in recovery, are culturally relevant and responsive to community needs, the Gavin Foundation said.

McGahan thanked the Malden legislative delegation, Mayor Gary Christenson and Malden Overcoming Addiction President Paul Hammersley for their dedication to the project. Hammersley, who was the driving force behind the project, credited his sponsor and friend, the late Dom DiSario, as an inspiration and the conscientious leader of the effort to open the center.

Malden's legislative delegation was also praised for securing funding for the project. Sen. Jason Lewis, State Rep. Paul Donato, State Rep. Steve Ultrino, and former state representative and current Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur were on hand for the ceremony.

Malden Police Chief and Malden Opioid Task Force member Kevin Molis and Pastor Gerry Whetstone of the Nazarene Church in Malden, also a member of the Opioid Task Force, also participated in the ribbon cutting.

The Bridge Recovery Center will use the Cambridge Health Alliance for outpatient clinical services; Cataldo Ambulance for NARCAN training; ABCD for food services, housing assistance, fuel assistance and job training; Business Solutions Unplugged for computer classes; 3MG Boston for media workshops; the YMCA for health and wellness; and Seven Mile Road Church for spiritual well-being.

Bridge Recovery Center is located on Commercial Street. For more information, call 781-480-4937. For more information about Malden Overcoming Addiction, call 781-838-2203.