The Empowerment Center helps adults in all stages of recovery by providing free coaching sessions, support groups, and connections to local resources. Speaking at a ribbon cutting Friday, Clinical Program Manager Gregory Gallo says the program — which uses a harm reduction model and peer-to-peer support — has coached more than 400 people battling substance abuse and mental illness since 2022.
“Our Empowerment Center participants are our friends, they’re our family, our coworkers," says Gallo. "They’re you and they’re me.”
Gallo says the Empowerment Center began with just two coaches in a tiny office on Main Street in Poughkeepsie. Now, it has four coaches on staff, and boasts its own wing at the county behavioral health campus at 230 North Road, next to the county Stabilization Center. Take a look inside, and you’ll find individual coach offices, lounges, a conference room, and even a community garden. The interior is lit with warm, calming lights to avoid overwhelming visitors.
“You’ll see if you look above, there’s all this florescent lighting — we keep most of the florescent lighting off," he explains. "We try to create a really trauma-informed space. We understand that most of the program participants have encountered and survived some sort of trauma in their life, so we really want to make sure that we’re looking very different than an institutional setting that perhaps they encountered that was not so great for them.”
Jean-Marie Niebuhr, the commissioner of the county Department of Mental Health, says the Empowerment Center is different from the county’s crisis services in that it provides a non-clinical, low-barrier option for coaching and support. Participants do not need to fill out paperwork or have health insurance to speak with someone.
For one participant who spoke Friday, the Empowerment Center’s social events and support groups were a big draw. Miriam, who declined to give her last name, says she was referred to the center in February for a number of reasons: she was struggling with her mental health, isolation, hoarding, and domestic violence amid a pending divorce. Miriam says she now feels more comfortable being social, and has developed practices to keep her hoarding in check.
“I have met many other people here at the Empowerment Center. Some have the same issues that I have, and some do not," she says. "But the fact that there is a place that we can go that supports us in any way that we need support is a God-send, and very much needed in Dutchess County.”
Gallo says the Empowerment Center can also connect participants with services across the county, like housing and employment programs. So far this year, he says the center has helped 15 people find housing, 35 people find jobs, and nearly 50 people get medical care.
Democratic Poughkeepsie Mayor Yvonne Flowers praised the expansion, saying it’s a critical resource for the city.
“It means that there is a place that they can feel welcome. And that if they’re going through some kind of challenges — dealing with mental health, or dealing with drug addiction — there’s someone here with a listening ear to help them navigate through that and direct them to services that are available for them," says Flowers. "Because sometimes that can be overwhelming. You don’t know what to do to at that point. So, you need someone that has that compassion and is willing to help get you through that process.”
Those looking to meet with a recovery coach can make an appointment by calling 845-486-2893. Walk-ins are accepted during the center’s “All Access” hours Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 1:30 to 4 p.m.
