In 2014 many local families began to experience the devastation of drug overdoses. The community in Bradford, MA experienced double-digit deaths. A call-to-action took shape as Father John from Sacred Hearts Parish responded to the outcry. Mary Fallavollita, a licensed therapist, designed a weekly drop-in family support group during the winter of 2015. The need for comprehensive educational resources and trauma training was evident, and a seed took root. By 2019 a team of professionals began to meet and embraced an IOP (Intensive Outpatient) vision with a comprehensive program to address the needs of individuals leaving prison, rehab, and hospitals. The Saint Gemma Center will assess each client’s needs and provide treatment that affords hope-filled outcomes for each person, and family.  

Trauma breeds despair, devastation, destruction and sometimes death. The healing properties necessary to help the suffering individuals & families begin with the four circles of wholeness – biological, psychological, social, and spiritual. We have assembled a skilled and talented staff trained to assess and address facets of all four of these factors that aid in transforming the mind, body, and spirit.   

In November of 2022 Saint Gemma Health & Wellness Center invited 25 professionals to attend its first Professional Development Day and with great success, Donna Lalwani from the New York Amen Clinic outlined a protocol to meet the challenges our community is facing. The Brain Health wellness vision offers the community an opportunity to become the best version of themselves one brain at a time and thus, brain health is a foundational piece of the Saint Gemma’s program. Our primary educational focus will be honoring and accessing, through a robust clinical program, the intrinsic human spirit, to scaffold each client’s innate capacity to create meaningful change that leads to psycho-spiritual well-being.