The Wishing Wellness Center, run by the Catholic Charities of Cortland County, is a peer-to-peer support program that focuses on individuals’ recovery, either from mental illness, substance use, or other problems. 

Healing Cortland sat down with Valerie Partridge, who is the Program Manager at the Wishing Wellness Center, to tell us a little more about the program and what it offers to the individuals of Cortland County. 

Partridge described the Wishing Wellness Program as “a peer services run program, a recovery center focusing on people’s recovery. We mainly focus on mental health, but we do help people with substance use as well. If you are having a rough day, you can walk right in and have a cup of coffee and chat with one of our specialists. If the person wants to sign up for our services, we provide support with that as well.” 

Wishing Wellness Programming 

Wishing Wellness holds “Open Engagement Hours” multiple times a week, which are opportunities for anyone to walk in, sit down and relax, talk with a specialist or sign up for their services. Their normal hours are from 10am to 12pm and then from 1 pm-3 pm Tuesday and Thursday, and Wednesday’s from 1:30pm-3:30pm. With the weather getting colder, they hope to begin extending their hours. 

The Wellness Wishing Center offers many events or activities throughout the month, including Narcan trainings, field trips, and different holiday parties. This month (October), they are holding a Community Halloween Event on October 31st. There will be various community agencies setting up along the sidewalk and inside the building. There will be pizza and refreshments, and opportunities for people to learn about local services.

Wishing Wellness offers other services in addition to these, all aiming to help individuals overcome barriers that have prevented them from achieving their goals in life. These programs include 

• Peer Support: Providing peer mentoring, bridging to services & enabling empowerment 
• Peer Socialization: Constructing healthy social supports within the peer community
• Life Skill Building: Skill building in areas such as budgeting, organization, nutrition, etc. 
• Community Engagement: Encouraging connectedness through supports in community 
• Services Support: Brokering engagement with local resources, including housing, DSS, SSI/SSD, treatment, etc. 
• Advocacy: Support with court appearances, mental health and doctor appointments, etc. 
• Vocational Connections: Enabling peer connections to education and the workforce
• Recovery-based Recreational Activities: Providing healthy social activities and field-trips

Peer Library Hours

Wishing Wellness also currently offers Peer Library Hours. They set up tables at local libraries, and any individual that wants to come is welcome. It is an opportunity to learn more about their programs and help connect people to services. Partridge explained “The library offers us a quiet, safe space to talk to individuals. Our main goal is to be able to reach any individual that may be out of town, so we can come to them and still support and assist them with whatever they need. This actually started at the Cortland library, since homeless individuals were frequent there, and it allowed us to offer them services and assist librarians if a problem arises.” 

Why Peer Services are Important

Partridge shared that she had “been through it all” with her own personal struggles. “I actually used to be a client here, and they gave me the extra support I was lacking. I went to someone who had been through a lot and they showed me that I could have a chance at a better life. It really is so much easier for someone to talk to someone who is going through it on a personal level.” 

“We are a safe space for anyone. We maintain confidentiality, offer a welcoming atmosphere, and we want to help people overcome their struggles and achieve recovery and wellness and do whatever we can to help them get to that point.” 

To sign up for programs at the Wishing Wellness Center, you can walk right into their building at 24 Church Street, Cortland. They also accept both provider and self-referrals, which is on their website and can be filled out both electronically or dropped off in person.

Visit their website for more information on upcoming events and services at www.ccocc.org or call (607) 756-5992.