Newtown’s Dorrie Carolan is well aware that families across the region are experiencing the same challenges coping with, and sometimes losing loved ones to, substance abuse, as her many local contacts.

And she is pleased that community leaders from Fairfield to Milford, and now Watertown and Waterbury, recognize that residents in those communities and beyond can benefit from the successful “Hope & Support” network she, her volunteers, and her nonprofit have built over nearly two decades.

The Newtown Parent Connection, Inc, is a nonprofit organization that provides resources for individuals and families affected by substance use disorder.

Carolan told The Newtown Bee the new Hope and Support Group will become available as a resource through Waterbury’s Walnut Hill Community Church beginning January 12.

“These groups provide a safe and confidential forum to share openly while receiving peer support, information, compassion, and hope,” she said.

This newest group offering will initially convene online with the goal of in-person meetings once it is determined safe to do so. The group will be led by two licensed professionals with lived experience.

It will meet each Tuesday from 7 to 9 on Zoom. Eventually, Carolan said, the group will convene in person at the Walnut Hill Community Church, 274 Bunker Hill Avenue, when it is safe to begin meeting.

“All Zoom information will be posted on our Facebook page and our website, newtownparentconnection.org,” Carolan added.

Like many who come to the Hope & Support sessions already being held Thursday at 7 pm through the Parent Connection’s Newtown headquarters, and at a Milford/Fairfield affiliate chapter at 7 pm every Monday, Carolan said Tidgwell, like herself, has suffered the loss of a child from overdose.

Carolan has helped hundreds of Newtown families connect their loved ones with rehab programs, and educated thousands more with outreach activities, speakers, support groups, and an annual Parent University, which presents a series of intensive workshops. Having lost her own son to an opiate overdose, Carolan can offer empathy as well as expertise in the midst of the devastation and aftermath of a drug overdose or death.

“Our support groups are about coming — you don’t have to give your name, you don’t have to share, we just ask that you listen,” she previously told The Bee. “There’s no reason for anybody in that situation to feel alone, to feel any shame, and to [not] know that there is hope.”

Group facilitator Lynn Tidgwell is a licensed clinical social worker who has been practicing for the past 12 years. She was drawn to this profession after being inspired by the many mental health professionals who gave their support throughout her family’s struggle with substance use disorders.

It was their compassion, empathy, and skill that were a lifeline for her, and she wanted to give the same to others who similarly struggled. Tidgwell’s core belief is that unconditional love must guide all of our actions with loved ones.

“This is a transformative process for most of us, and groups provide a powerful source of encouragement for our individual journeys,” she said.

Tidgwell was a member of the Newtown Parent Connection group and wanted to be a part of the changes they were making with families in local communities. She will be facilitating the Watertown/Waterbury Hope & Support Group in honor of her son Daniel, who lost his life to a substance use disorder.

Another NPC facilitator, Janet Rooney is a psychiatric advanced practice nurse (APRN) with more than 25 years of experience. She has worked in out-patient and in-patient psychiatric facilities doing direct care as well as leadership positions.

Rooney has taught psychiatric nursing at the undergraduate and graduate level. Currently she has a private psychotherapy practice in Wallingford, and co-facilitates a Hope & Support Group in Middlefield.

She will be co-facilitating the Waterbury-area group in honor of her son Luke, who lost his life to a substance use disorder.

Those interested in learning more about the group or to join should contact either of the Hope & Support certified facilitators — Tidgwell at 203-217-0025 or Rooney at 860-685-1326.

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